Moving On
by McMooster
Summary: Temari is a girl who doesnt fall in love easily.When she does find her Mr.Perfect,the 2 are torn apart!She goes back home,bringing a broken heart.Now as she goes back to Konoha,can her heart handle the strain?Can true love conquer all? ShikaTem, Rated T
1. Unpredictable Words

All right! So this is my first fanfic to put up on this site, and my first stab at the Naruto series (so obviously first time doing ShikaxTem).

So sit back, and enjoy the lovely story as it unfolds.

DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Naruto**, so don't sue me! Please! Nobody likes to get sued.

* * *

Chapter 1

**Unpredictable Words**

Temari's heart heaved whenever someone mentioned "Konoha" and "Pineapple" in the same sentence. It had been two years since since she came back from Konoha. She didn't bring just documents and signed reports; she brought a shattered heart home.  
Garaa and Kankuro noticed the dull green in her eyes, her monotone voice, but they didn't question bout her strange behavior. They already knew the cause. But it had been a year and a half, and things had been going pretty well until that day.

"Hey Temari, Garaa wants you to see you." said Kankuro, as he plopped onto the couch, grabbing a bag of chips.

"What does he want now…" she sighed. She picked herself off of the floor and grabbed her fan.

"Later." she said behind her shoulder.

"Shut the door behind you." he replied. Temari rolled her eyes. She quietly shut the door behind her and walked towards the office. It took 10 minutes to walk to the government building and to the Kazekage's office. She knocked on the hard wood double doors.

"Enter."

She walked into the room and placed her hands on her hips.  
"You called?" she asked. He nodded as a reply.

"I need you to go on another mission."

He paused for a moment, and looked at her. Temari gave him a look that said that he could continue.

"I want you to go back to Konoha."  
Her mouth dropped open.

"Again!?! Isn't once enough? Can't you send Kankuro or some other ninja there??" she exclaimed.

"Kankuro is busy with missions, and you are the ambassador of the Sand, not him. Besides, I can't risk sending any of the other ninjas above the genin level out. Besides, you know the villagers and ninjas there best."

"But…."

"You didn't seem as rejective last time."  
Temari slammed her hand on the desk.

"This is different!" she stammered. He raised an eyebrow.

"How so? It has been two years since that incident between the two of you has happened. Can't you just move that aside and think of the real importance of this mission?"  
He has touched a sensitive nerve in Temari saying this. She looked down, her face masked with sadness.

"Time doesn't erase scars of the heart." she murmured.

"I'm sorry, but you know better than that! Never get your emotions involved with missions … and besides, I've already sent a message to the Hokage for your arrival."

"Fine! I'll leave tomorrow morning." she grunted. Temari angrily stomped out of the room and slammed the door on her way out. Garaa sighed and went back to his paperwork.

* * *

Shikamaru yawned as he was heading back home; finally back from his last mission, which wasn't too fun. He was living with his girlfriend, no longer living with his parents. He opened the front door and said,

"I'm home!" He sat on the dining table chair, and constantly blinked, stopping himself from falling asleep.  
"Shika-kun, you came home quite early." His girlfriend sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Geeze, no wonder Sakura calls you 'Ino-pig'."  
She bonked him on the head.

"That's mean Shika-kun!"  
Ino pouted and sniffled.

'_How troublesome.'_ he thought.

"You know that I didn't mean it"  
He faked a crooked grin and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Her cheeks turned a slight pink.

"What did you and Tsunade-sama discuss?" asked Ino, trying to change the subject.

"She informed me that the ambassador of the Sand is coming here in a couple of days, and told me to make sure nobody does anything stupid while she's around."

"Hmm… isn't the ambassador's name Tanis or Terry …"

"Temari. It's Temari." replied Shikamaru through his clenched teeth, not trying to sound too perky.

"Right!" she said.

He tried to deny the fluttering butterflies that he felt.

"How troublesome. That woman is scarier than my mother."

Ino laughed.

"You two get along really well, I'm sure it'll be fine." she said.

Shikamaru looked up the ceiling, thinking  
_'So you say…'_

* * *

Temari felt dread as she was nearing the entrance to the village. She signed in at the desk and decided to check in with the Hokage before going to her hotel to hide. She was nearing the mansion, but she stopped walking and suddenly froze.  
Across the street a few meters away, she saw the familiar face and head of hair walking in the opposite direction she was going. She quickened her pace, muttering,

"Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't…" and kept her head down.

"Temari?"

Her plan didn't work.She slowly brought her head back up and, at that moment, wished she never came in the first place.  
Temari felt her heart racing and she felt her face going scarlet.Shikamaru was no longer at the 'teenager-becoming-man' stage. He was finally an adult with the features physically to fit it.

"You still have that stupid expression on your face." she replied. He smirked.

"You really are troublesome. The most fearsome woman comes back to Konoha."  
She rolled her eyes, and gave him a sarcastic look.

"Whatever."

There was an awkward silence. Temari felt her nervousness jump up a notch, but didn't dare to show it in front of Shikamaru.

"How's Ino?" she asked. His eyes lit up in surprise.

'_Didn't expect __that__ coming did you eh??'_ she thought.

"Fine, fine," he answered, "so uh, how long are you planning to stay here?"

She shrugged in response.

"Dunno. I haven't checked in with the Hokage, and Garaa didn't tell me."

"Well after you check in, do you want to -"

"Shika-kun!!!" yelled a blonde girl a few distances away from the two.

"Guess you gotta go now." said Temari. Shikamaru nodded, showing a tinge of annoyance in his face.

"I'll catch you later." he said. He walked away, waving his hand to Ino. She knew she should've kept walking towards the Hokage's mansion, but curiosity overcame her and she turned around.

She immediately regretted it. Ino nearly jumped on Shikamaru, kissing him full on the lips. Temari felt her eyes prickling, so she quickly wiped them away and started walking on the path once again.

Before, she had Shikamaru by her side.  
Now, she had nothing but herself.

* * *

Well. There is one crappy chapter you have read so far. I'm wondering if the first chapter was a little too short. I write all my chapters out first, so I'm never too sure whether it's too short… cause the length always ends up differently when typed.

**ANYWAYS!  
**

Please Read and Review!   
Light criticism is accepted! And advice is definitely appreciated! -

Ta ta


	2. Hating Life

Another torture for you guys to read. D  
TADAAAAAAA!  
poof of light magically appears  
Sit back and relax and read on!!

Disclaimer: For pete's sake, **I don't own Naruto,** so stop pestering me!

* * *

Chapter 2:

**Hating Life**

Shikamaru quietly ate dinner, mind wandering elsewhere from his conversation with Ino.

"Shika-kun? Hello?" Ino waved a spoon in front of his face.

"Oh, uh sorry." he said. She placed her spoon back down, and pouted.

'_Oh great,'_ he thought _'here it goes.'_

"You're not listening to what I'm saying! I shouldn't have even moved in with you!"  
He wasn't shocked or surprised to hear such an outburst.

"Ino," He placed his hand over hers, "I really love you. It's just that today's been a long day. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Ino smiled when she heard him say this.

"Your words sure have a way to melt my heart Shika–kun."

The rest of dinner went fairly well. Ino decided to sleep over at Sakura's house, so he had the place to himself. He couldn't stop thinking about a certain person…a certain 'Temari' in town. It took all of his effort not to stutter when he talked to her earlier that day.

She had grown even more beautiful than she was before; her curves more defiant, and her stance more confident and graceful. But her eyes were what really changed. It was still the same bright emerald green-blue hue, but he could see the pain she had gone through during the past. Shikamaru couldn't help think of what could have happened if they didn't… break up. He shook his head and thought

'_It was for the best…' _

But was it? His heart held doubt.

* * *

Temari jumped onto the room's bed. She spread her arms and legs out like a star, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed. 

'_Stupid Garaa! Stupid Kankuro! Why do they have to choose __**me**__ to come here!'  
_

As she was muttering insults about her siblings, her stomach growled. She took this as a sign and walked into the main living room and into the kitchen.

She opened the fridge but it was empty. She searched throughout the kitchen, but she found nothing.

'_I knew I should've bought groceries before I went into hiding!'_ she thought. Temari rolled her eyes in frustration and muttered,

"Guess it's a girl's night out."

Temari walked along the street full of food venders and restaurants.

She decided to head over to Ichiraku's, the famous ramen stand in all of the Country of Fire that Kankuro insisted to go to. She poked her head through the curtains, peeked in, and saw a familiar head of blond hair.

"Naruto?" she said. The blond turned around at the sound of his name.

"Oi! Temari! What are you doing here?" he asked. She grabbed a seat beside him and answered,  
"Garaa sent me here **again**."

"Well you don't seem so glad about it…" he said.

"It's not like I hate Konoha or anything, in fact I'd rather live here than back at that sandy place I live in. But… well, I have my own reasons."

Naruto shrugged. It was better for him not to stick his head into Temari's drama. The old man behind the counter turned to her and asked,

"What would you like miss?"

Her eyes looked over the menu above and turned to what Naruto was eating.

"I'll just have whatever he's having."

The man nodded and began working away on the order. Temari looked over at Naruto, who was happily slurping his noodles up.

"Can I ask you something?" she inquired. He stopped eating and looked up towards her.

"Sure, why not."

"Why do you like ramen so much?"

"…" He was quiet for a moment, then replied,

"Cause it tastes so good."

'_Why did I even bother to ask in the first place.'_ she thought.

"And besides, you can't really truly know why you like something, you just do."

Naruto paused, and continued eating.

"Your order is up miss." said the old man. He handed her the bowl of ramen.

"Thanks." she replied.

She took out the chopsticks and began to eat. Naruto finished his ramen and stood up to leave. Before he left, he turned to Temari.

"Remember to eat the noodles with the broth, or else it won't taste as good."

She nodded and said,  
"Yeah, yeah whatever."

What he said seemed to imply a deeper meaning to her

_'...baka...I hate it when I ask stupid questions.'_

* * *

Shikamaru was quietly reading a book, trying to take his mind off of things. But, it worked to no avail. He scowled and shut the book. 

'_Maybe some fresh air outside will help.'_ he thought.

He didn't bother bringing his jacket with him, the evening summer air served to be warm enough.

Temari finished her ramen with a great big gulp and drank the remaining water in her cup. She felt way too full; perhaps she had eaten a little too much.

_'So full…and Naruto can eat two of these huge bowls.' _she thought. She paid the old man and left.  
The cool evening wind gently blew against her face, brushing her bangs back and forth.

'_Might as well take a walk while I'm outside.'_ she thought.

Temari walked along the empty, dimly lighted street, making her way to the memorial slowly. As she stepped off the road and onto the grassy hill, she saw a person standing in front, staring down at the stone.

She couldn't make out who it was; the moon didn't provide enough light. Temari walked on, still clueless about whom this mysterious person was. As she walked closer to the memorial, she suddenly wished she didn't walk this way.

But she was getting nearer to the person and the stone, so she decided not to chicken out. The person turned around and looked at Temari. She stared back but continued to move forward.

"Why are you out so late?" she asked.

As she walked closer, she could also see a small dog beside him, and she realized the person was Kiba.

He shrugged and said,

"I needed some fresh air."

She nodded and walked over to stand beside him. Temari gazed at the rock, not feeling anything in particular.

Kiba finally spoke after an awkward silence.

"This memorial… what does it mean to you?" he asked. She was silent for a moment. Akamaru barked, as if he was telling her to hurry up with the answer.

"I don't know."

"Then why did you come here?" he asked.

"Because… this place gives me a sense of peace." she replied.

"Why? You're not from Konoha…doesn't this memorial make you miss home?"

Temari smiled; it was small, but it showed sadness.

"The departed and troubled are now in peace. Because of them, we wouldn't have what we have today. I owe everything to them… it's kind of like the people that died back then are protecting me now."

Kiba was silent, lost in thought. Akamaru circled around Temari, sniffing her. She crouched down and petted the dog

"Why did you come here? You don't seem to like this area very much." she said.

"I detest this place. I hate this memorial. It's stupid; it's supposed to show pride and honor for the ninjas who died for Konoha, and yet it doesn't give me pride at all. It just rips another scar out every time I look at this thing."

As he said this, he looked up at the moon.

"Sometimes," he whispered, "I wish they were never ninjas. If they weren't, they'd be alive today."

Temari, in a way, understood his pain, confusion and anger. She smiled a reassuring smile and said,

"They saved this village for you, and the villagers. You should be proud of them; they died because they wanted you to live the life you live today. I'm sure your parents are really proud of you. My father… he tried to kill Garaa several times. I can't believe he did that… and after all those reasons why he said he did it, I still cursed him to his deathbed. At least you have somebody to look up to, ne?"

Kiba was silent, slowly taking in what Temari had said.

"It's getting late, I should be heading back." he said.

"Yeah… me too." she replied. They both waved good bye, and walked in opposite directions. Temari was back on the rocky road, with a feeling of cheeriness deep in her heart.

* * *

Shikamaru, hands in his pockets, walked around the village. The sky was getting darker and the stars shone. He sighed. 

'_Time to walk home'_ he thought. He started walking back to the direction of his house. As he was walking down the streets, his gaze traveled to a tall woman with a huge fan about 2 blocks away.

Upon recognition, Shikamaru yelled out,

"Temari!!"

She kept on walking, as if she did not hear him.

"Temari!Temari!" He quickened his pace, and his strides became shorter, until he broke out into a run. He had finally caught up to her, and was about to grab her shoulder, when she whipped around.

Shikamaru tripped due to the surprise of her sudden turn-around, and his lips landed right onto hers. Temari let out a surprised gasp. In that split second, he was really unsure of what to do.

His first thought was to stay in that position for as long as he possibly could, and the other was to pull away. But he just couldn't do that. Her sweet scent and her soft lips persuaded him to stay. Temari didn't stop him, so they kept going.He felt his hands closing in on her waist, pulling her closer...

But she pushed him away, snapping back into the cold harsh reality they now lived in. Shikamaru felt disappointment. The kiss didn't last for as long as he hoped for.

"What was **that**!?!" she snapped. Shikamaru, who was rare to blush, did the uncommon and turned pink.

"It was an accident!!" he said.

"Yeah, okay, whatever, great excuse Nara!" She rolled her eyes while saying this.

"Well if you hadn't turned around, none of this would have happened!" he shot back.

"Oh, so now you're blaming this 'accident' on me??" she snapped again.

"You know I'm right and you enjoyed that!" he snapped back.

"So what if I did!!!" she yelled. There was an awkward pause, and both registered what Temari had yelled out.

"I didn't mean it like that…" she said.

"Liar." said Shikamaru, with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up. We'll act like as if this never happened."

He raised an eyebrow, and said,

"But it did happen."

She shot him an irritated look, and replied.

"You're really annoying, did you know that?"

"Whatever."

Temari, once again, rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't you be going home now? It's quite dark, and **your Ino** will get worried" she said, in a mocking tone.

"I was just going back." he answered.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you around then?"

"I guess." he said. The both turned around and went their separate ways.

Shikamaru looked up at the moon.

'_I hate my life so much.'_

* * *

Okay well you've probably noticed I have been kind of drabbling on, but this part is necessary for the whole story to make sense. XD  
You'll get it soon enough. 

So…

**Read and Review please! **And I'll love you ever so much.


	3. Party Hardy

YEAAAAHHHHHH !!! I feel so happy….. I can't believe I got over 200 hits on this story (yeah yeah, im lame and pathetic I know .;; ) but thanks to everybody who is currently reading this story and sending me looovely reviews.D

And now…ONWARD WITH THE STORY!  
**Disclaimer:** I **don't own Naruto.** Seriously.

* * *

Chapter 3

**Party Hardy**

Temari woke up, feeling a bit cheery, which was a surprising thing for her. She yawned and stumbled into the kitchen. She opened the fridge door, and searched through all the pies and left over dinners people left her at the door when she came back from the night before.

She decided to have a piece of toast, seeing as she wasn't feeling too hungry. She grabbed two slices of bread and shoved them in the toaster. Temari rummaged through the drawers and found an instant coffee pack, and rushed to find a mug. Coffee had always helped her mornings and stressful days, and without it, it would be a nightmare.

She finally settled down onto the table with her toast and coffee. Since Kankuro and Garaa were no longer the people that accompanied her for breakfast, her mind was allowed to do some wandering. And that wandering of her mind… leaded her to the incident last night.

Temari could still feel Shikamaru's lips on hers… his soft but firm touch on it was still lingering. Although she didn't want to admit it, the scene last night made her exhilarated, her heart thumping and blood rushing towards her cheeks. Temari shook her head and mentally hit herself in the head for thinking such thoughts.

'_I'm not allowed to think like that anymore! He's not my boyfriend and he's not single! So stop thinking about it!!!' _

She finished up her last piece of toast and coffee, carefully placing the dish and mug in the sink for the maid.

Temari walked over to the living room and stared at the empty report papers.

'Maybe I should get started on those reports.' she thought. But Temari knew better; the instant she started those reports, she'd fall right back asleep, and besides, she always left them last minute. She finally decided to go outside; there was nothing better to do indoors anyways.

'_And maybe if I'm lucky, maybe Shikamaru will just magically disappear.'_ she thought.

Temari walked along the bustling streets of Konoha, filled with villagers, ninjas and stores galore. She looked at some of the merchandise sold at the stands, thinking of getting a lovely souvenir for her brothers back at the Sand.

She was busy looking at a jade necklace, when suddenly she heard,

"Hey Temari!" yelled Sakura. Temari turned around and smiled at the friendly face.

"Hi Sakura-chan. How's it going?"

Sakura smiled brightly and replied,

"Great! I finally completed all of my medical training from Tsunade-sama."

"That's great!"

"What about you, Temari-san?" she inquired.

"It's been going well…." she lied. Sakura saw right through her lie, and quietly said,

"Has it been a hard year… with all that drama…?"

Temari's smile faded a bit.

"Yes…yes it has…"she whispered. Sakura nodded, and hugged the blonde out of instinct.

"I know its okay…"

She was on the verge of breaking out into tears, but she had been concealing her real emotions for a year, and she stopped herself from crying.

Sakura let her go and smiled broadly.

"I have a great idea! How about you come to a party that I'm hosting at my house tomorrow?  
Most of the chunnins and some of the jounins are getting their breaks in starting in the afternoon today, so everybody will be there! Oh, you should come!"

Temari shook her head, waving both her hands as a signal for no.

"I don't think that such a good idea…."

"Oh please?" pouted Sakura. Her infamous puppy dog pout made it hard for everybody to reject her. Temari rolled her eyes.

"**Fine**, I'll come!"

Sakura giggled,

"Yay! See you at 7 tomorrow!"

Temari scowled. This had better be one heck of a party.

* * *

Shikamaru couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it.

He has kissed Temari the other night.

'_I can't believe I just did that.'_ he thought. Shikamaru had been thinking of the run-in incident, and decided that he wouldn't tell Ino what happened.

In fact, he wasn't going to tell her that he had met her last night. Shikamaru tried to shake off the memory, convincing himself that 'it was just an accident'. But those feelings he had felt the other night… were they really just 'by accident'?

Her lips onto his… her soft buttery lips and scent of lavender rushing in his nose… her fragile hands on his shoulders. Even he couldn't deny how much he loved the feeling he had once experienced many times before.

Shikamaru sighed and his hands covered his eyes, as he often did when he was confused like hell.

'_The only reason I felt like that is because she was my ex-girlfriend. That's the only reason….the only reason why….'_ he thought.

But was it?

* * *

_The next day in the afternoon…_

Temari stood in front of the tall mirror in her bedroom, trying on different outfits. She didn't know why, but she had this need to dress up… possibly because Shikamaru was going to be there?? She let out a sigh and decided it was silly of her to get all worked up like this.

'_Just wear what you normally wear stupid!' _she thought.

Temari looked at the clock and it read half past six. She changed out of the outrageously beautiful dress she was in and wore her regular attire. She grabbed her keys and walked out the door, feeling ecstatic.

Shikamaru, even though he didn't want to admit it, was excited for Sakura's get-together planned on tonight's evening.  
He wanted to meet Temari again, hoping it wouldn't turn out as awkward as last time. He was lost in his thoughts, until he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Shika," called out Ino, "it's almost time to go! Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute!" he replied.

Shikamaru grabbed his usual vest and left the bedroom.

Ino and Shikamaru both knocked on the door at the same time, waiting for someone to open it.

"This party sounds like it'll be a lot of fun eh?" said Ino.  
"It's like Sakura to think up this kind of stuff…"

He heard soft footsteps becoming louder and louder behind himself and Ino, so they both quickly turned around, at the ready, with kunais in their hand.

"Whoa. Didn't think I was an enemy…it's just me, Temari."

Ino and Shikamaru both tucked in their kunais, both feeling embarrassed.

"Sorry Temari! But you know how us ninjas always have to watch our backs." said Ino.

Temari laughed, while Shikamaru was thinking,

'_How ironic.'_

The door finally was opened by Sakura, and everybody turned around to face her.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad you guys could come! Sorry about taking so long to answer the door… Naruto almost broke a vase."

The three of them stepped inside of the warmth. Sakura closed the door behind them. She patiently waited for the three of them to take off their shoes.

"Follow me, they're in the living room." she said.

Ino,Shikamaru and Temari all followed behind Sakura into the room.

Naruto and Kiba were arguing, Hinata was sitting opposite of Naruto and stealing glances at him while blushing, Neji and Tenten were talking and eating popcorn and Shino was quietly reading a book.

"Hey guys!" said Sakura. "Guess who's here?"

All heads turned and started at the three. Even Naruto and Kiba stopped their argument. Then, all at once, they yelled out their greetings.

"Hey what's up-Hi-What are you doing here??-Long time no see!-Food! Did you bring food?-…-Hello."

Temari couldn't help but smile. Konoha felt like a second home to her.

'_What a riot.'_ she thought.

* * *

K well I got to admit this is a crappy chapter… but only because I had to cut it off because the chapter is too long to read. -

I'll probably not update until next week, but there might be a slight chance of me updating on Sunday.I feel ecstatic. D

Thanks to all the people who are currently reading the story ... it means so much to me.


	4. Hangovers and Sneaky Visits

Okay so I was reading Chapter 3… and I apologize for the crappiness of it. seriously.

So, onwards with the story.

**ADDED:** Sorry I didn't update guys TT

* * *

Chapter 4

**Hangovers and Sneaky Visits**

(…continuation from chapter 3)

"_Hey what's up-Hi-What are __you __doing here??-Long time no see!-Food! Did you bring food?-…-Hello."_

_Temari couldn't help but smile. Konoha felt like a second home to her._

'_What a riot.' she thought._

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes, but grinned like a cat, and Ino smiled brightly. She went with Sakura into the kitchen while Temari and Shikamaru decided to stay in the living room.

Temari sat on an armchair beside Hinata, and Shikamaru sat on the couch beside Chouji. They all talked amongst themselves, and Temari couldn't help to feel a little bit excluded from the conversations. She had tried to make short talk with Hinata, but the girl always seemed to be distracted.

Kiba was starting to lose interest of the heated argument he was having with Naruto, so he turned and talked to Temari. Once again, she seemed to have saved her from isolation.

Shikamaru watched Temari out of the corner of his eye, and almost felt angry that she was talking to Kiba. He couldn't admit that he was"possibly" jealous of him.

"Uh… did you even hear a word I just said??"

Chouji waved a hand in front of his face. He snapped back into reality.

"Oh, sorry… I was lost in my thoughts again." he replied. Chouji just shrugged and went back to eating his BBQ flavored chips.

"So what's it like taking orders from your lil bro?" asked Kiba.

"I feel like I'm practically inferior to him, which technically is true but… I'm his older sister! Shouldn't that count for anything??" she exclaimed. He laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn on the table.

They conversed some more, having a lot of laughs along the way. She didn't even notice Shikamaru was watching her the entire time. Sakura and Ino came back with margaritas for everyone in the room, along with cases of beer.

"Yeah!!!" shouted Naruto, jumping over the couch to get a beer. Kiba hit him hard on the head, muttering "Idiot" under his breath.

"These are Ino's famous sour apple margaritas! They're so good!" cheerfully said Sakura. Ino smiled at the compliment. They passed the drinks around and Naruto stood up.

He raised his glass and yelled, "A toast to us! To the awesomest ninjas ever!!!!!"

Everybody stood up and toasted eachother's glasses. They sat back down, sipping their drinks. Naruto swallowed the margarita in one gulp and burped.

"Whoa! Don't you want to slow down and actually taste it?" said Temari. He shrugged and reached for a beer.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and said,

"Here it goes again; Naruto gets drunk and starts to break my things once again!"

Naruto poked Kiba and yelled in his ear,

"Let's see who can chug the most beer!!!!!!"

The others turned to Naruto and Kiba, yelling "Do it! Do it! Do it…"

The blonde grinned and said,

"C'mon, maybe you'll beat me this time." Kiba's eye twitched and a vein popped on his forehead.

"I NEVER LOST TO YOU!!!! YOU LOST LAST TIME!!!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! I WON LAST TIME!" replied (more liked yelled) Naruto. They started to get into a heated argument, until Kiba said,

"How about whoever wins this time gets to be dubbed as the Beer King?"

Naruto couldn't back down at the opportunity and shouted,

"Bring it on!" The two grabbed a beer, flicked it open and counted down.

"3..2..1..GO!" All of them yelled.

They both downed their beers, opening another and chugging it down as fast as they picked it up. They glared at each other while trying to drink at the same time, which didn't work very well for Naruto. He slopped beer on this shirt, but he ignored the cold and kept drinking.

Temari, Neji, Shino and Tenten cheered for Kiba. The rest rooted for Naruto.

"Go Kiba!" cheered Temari.

She glanced over to Shikamaru, and he quickly caught her in the act of staring. They looked into each other's eyes, but she looked away with embarrassment.

The challenge was soon coming to an end, with Naruto and Kiba slowing down, but never keeping their eyes off of each other. Eventually, Kiba gave up, moaning,

"Ahhhhhhhh!! Major brain freeze!!!!"

Naruto stood up for joy, stumbling and prancing around the room yelling "I win, I win, I win!!" However… he ended up running to the bathroom a second later, puking.

"Gross!" exclaimed Ino. Sakura sighed, but smiled.

"He's a real laugh that Naruto."

Kiba moaned incoherently and asked for an aspirin. His cheeks were red, and he himself was very drunk.

"I swear!-It was-ant-that-screwed-over-me." Sakura shoved the pill in his mouth and splashed his mouth with water, but got it all over his face instead. But as soon as the aspirin had entered his mouth, he fell sound asleep.

"He's going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning." said Temari.

Naruto finally came out of the bathroom, still pale, and flopped onto the couch.

"My head…it pounds…" Hinata immediately sat beside him asking,

"Naruto, are you alright?!?!?!" … and was answered by his snoring.

"They're always the first to get knocked out." said Shikamaru. Ino and Sakura placed blankets over them. Neji sighed and looked at the clock, which read half past eleven.

"It's getting late, and I promised to help the Hokage with reports of yesterday and today's mission first thing in the morning." He stood up and jumped over the arm chair.

"Bye!!" said everyone who was still awake. Ino leaned her head against Shikamaru's shoulder, closing her eyes. He didn't know what to do; he couldn't move away, but he wanted to.  
Shino and Tenten also left shortly after Neji, stating they had missions first thing in the morning. Eventually, Ino fell asleep, and the only ones awake were Temari, Sakura and Shikamaru.

"Sakura… do you have a boyfriend?" she asked. Sakura smiled and replied,

"No… I used to date Lee, but it didn't work out."

"Why? You two would have been great together!" Sakura looked and Shikamaru, sighed, and answered.

"At first, I really thought I loved him. But then… my mind kept wandering off to someone else.I couldn't stop thinking about him, even if Lee was around. Eventually I couldn't stop kidding myself and I broke up with him.He was devastated… but I knew doing that would make it less painful for the both of us."

Temari nodded with understanding. Shikamaru remained silent.

"The sad thing was…. the person I loved was **Uchiha Sasuke**."

Temari gasped with surprise. Sasuke was known as the traitor who ran off and betrayed Konoha for Orochimaru to gain more power. Sadly for Sakura, he died from practicing a forbidden justu, killing off himself and Orochimaru, along with Kabuto.

"But now it's okay…'cause I know he's finally in peace." Sakura smiled as she was talking.

Temari felt extremely sorry for her. Who would've thought that innocent Sakura would be scarred so deeply?

Shikamaru felt agony inside himself. Hearing Sakura's story made him face the truth that he was hiding from.

Why he always thought of her.

Why he wanted to be with her every second of his life.

Why he felt jealous when Kiba talked to her.

Why he wanted to touch her, kiss her, protect her…

….. because he fell in love with her…..

….. **again.  
**

* * *

Finally!! I have uploaded Chapter 4!!!!! Aren't you all very happy??

I'm hoping it was good enough to make up for that absence. I am **SO SO SO SORRY** that I didn't update!

I did not abandon this story!!!! I'm hoping to have Chapter 5 up soon. _Stay tuned_.

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!  
**

**  
**


	5. Hangovers and Sneaky Visits Part II

So ... I've learned something new. Never try to use Photoshop and Microsoft Word at the same time. It doesn't work. At ALL. .

Sorry for the delay folks… my focus clearly hasn't been dedicated to fan fiction … all due to the busy studying schedule I have because of this semester .

You can whack me as hard as you want.  And now: onward with the story!!!!

* * *

Chapter 5

**Hangovers and Sneaky Visits**

**Part II**

Temari slowly opened her eyes, groaning and rubbing the side of her neck; it ached from staying in one position the whole night. She wasn't the only one who was waking up groaning, Shikamaru was also opening his eyes, mumbling under his breath. Everybody else was sound asleep, and Sakura wasn't in the room.

"Have a good night's sleep?" asked Temari.

"My shoulder's sore…. thanks to Ino," he muttered "how troublesome." She smiled at the comment.

"You never really were a morning person."

He yawned, carefully placing Ino's head on a pillow nearby, and stretched.

Sakura came back into the living room with a smile on her face.

"Oh you guys are awake! I'm making coffee and tea along with French toast. It's the easiest to make with everybody here."  
"Do you need help?" asked Temari.

"That'd be ncie." she replied. Shikamaru yawned once again. The others began to wake up.

"Awww man!" wailed Naruto, "I have such a bad migraine!"

"Me too. Oh God, I'm never drinking that much beer ever again!" said Kiba. Hinata and Ino remained sound asleep even through all the noise Kiba and Naruto were making.

"SHH! You're going to wake the other two up!" hissed Sakura.

"My stomach's rumbling" said Chouji, with a hand over his stomach.

"Come into the kitchen, I'm preparing tea and toast." she whispered. The guys and Temari followed Sakura into the kitchen. The males all sat at the dining table while the two females walked into the kitchen area. Temari began to fry the slices of soaked bread while Sakura dipped the bread in French toast batter.

"How's your fifth day in Konoha going so far?" she asked.

"Alright I guess; Tsunade-sama told em that I would have a guide showing me around town tomorrow for the reports and such."

"Ahh I see."

There was a pause, a moment of peace between the two of them rather than an awkward one.

"Sakura-san…" said Temari.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Did you ever see Sasuke after you broke up with Lee?"

There was another pause, then she replied,

"Yes I did. The truth is…" she lowered her voice "I secretly went to go visit him."

"Does Naruto know about this?" Temari whispered back.

"No, I haven't told anyone except you… so please keep it quiet."

She nodded in agreement and understanding.

"So, what happened?"

"I met Sasuke-kun a few times during the night… but in the end we had to stop because we were close to getting caught and he said I was a distraction from training…" Sakura sighed, and continued on.

"In the end… we decided our relationship wouldn't work, so we stopped seeing each other."

Temari remained silent, trying to keep her face as blank as possible to hide her huge surprise.

"But the one thing I'll always regret… is not bringing him back with me. I tried to convince him to come back… but he would always disagree, saying that his goal is worth sacrificing everything for. It took Naruto months before he accepted the truth about his death. He still wonders if he could've saved him… it pains him to think about Sasuke-kun."

Sakura shook her head and said,

"Last piece!!"

She handed it over to Temari, who then put the last piece of bread into the pan. She stared at Sakura in amazement.

'_It must've taken her a long time to get over him.'_

She fried the last piece and placed it on the huge pile of French toast. Sakura took the plate and asked her to bring the coffee and tea.

"Breakfast is served!" yelled Sakura, despite the other two people sleeping in the living room. She placed the plate on the middle of the table and took the two kettles out of Temari's hands.

"The yellow kettle is tea, and the other blue one is coffee, okay?"

The others nodded and began to eat. Temari took a seat beside Shikamaru and grabbed a slice of toast.

"Feeling less grumpy?" she asked him. He glared at her and smirked.

"You're not much of a morning person either!! Remember that one time when I woke you up for a surprise breakfast I prepared and you spazzed at me! So I left…"

"…and I gave you a necklace to say sorry…" she continued off.

"…and we walked back to our secret valley." he finished.

"Those were some good memories… that I treasure from the bottom of my heart." she said.

Shikamaru placed a small smile on his face.

"Me too."

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two, with background noises of chewing and people talking with their mouths full not being able to fill the empty void. Shikamaru finally broke the awkward silence.

"I should go wake Ino up."

She nodded and replied,

"Yeah, before all the food is gone." He got up from his seat and went into the living room. Temari sighed and sipped her black coffee. Maybe it was time for her to forget and move on.

'_I shouldn't harbor these feelings for Shikamaru…we can never be together. But… what about those incidents when we met…'_

-Flashback-

_**Temari fell onto her knees on the tree branch, gasping for breath. **_

'_This is it, I'm going to die.' _

_**She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain.**_

'_It'll all be over soon enough.'__** she reassured herself.**_

"_**This is your time to sleep… FOREVER!!" yelled the female enemy. **_

_**Temari waited for a slice of wind to kill her, but all she felt was her body go numb and controlled. She ended up doing a forward roll, avoiding the attack, without even realizing it. **_

"_**W-what..?"**_

"_**I can't stand having a woman save a man's life." said Shikamaru, with a smirk on his face. She managed a smile.**_

"_**Still ranting about men and women?"**_

-End of Flashback-

'_No! Stop thinking about things like that!! He's with Ino now… and there's nothing I can do about it!'_ she thought. Temari stood up from her seat.

"If you don't mind Sakura-san, I think I'll leave now. Thank you for the breakfast and planning a great party. I had lots of fun."

Sakura pouted and asked,

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for just a bit longer?"

"Sorry, but I have other plans." she lied. Temari made her way to the front door when she met up with Shikamaru and Ino.

"Leaving already?" he asked.

"I have things to do." she responded.

"I see…" he frowned, "see you later then."

"Yeah." she replied as she walked out of the house.

----

Ino was surprised to see Shikamaru frown when Temari left. Sure, the two of them were close friends but…lately she felt that his attention was always somewhere else, or maybe towards somebody else. She bit her lip with worry.

"Ino, what's wrong?" asked Shikamaru, worry written all over his face. She placed a reassuring smile.

"Nothing Shika-kun! Nothing at all!"

He placed an arm around her waist. This calmed Ino down a notch.

'What am I talking about?! Shika loves me; I'm just being paranoid.'

She walked with Shikamaru into the kitchen, feeling cheery once again.

* * *

I am VERY SORRY that I haven't been updating… most of you probably thought I was either dead, mugged, captured, or abandoning this story. I am **NOT**,repeat** NOT** abandoning this story, and I have already written several chapters ahead of time (on paper).

I also seem to have an affinty of writing extremely short chapters. I know this one was really short. Sorry about that.. I can never tell how long a chapter is going to look like until I actually see it once its uploaded. It's weird .;  
I'll try to fix my problem about shortness. -

**Please Read and Review. **

**Thanks** xD


	6. A Date's a Date

Man I realized that the last chapter was REALLY short! Sorry!!

I hope that this chapter will fill your lengthy chapter needs -

* * *

Chapter 6

**A Date's a Date**

Temari wished she was back at home. She missed her brothers, Garaa and Kankuro. The three of them visited Konoha every year during the spring time, but Garaa became the Kazekage; Temari and Kankuro were promoted to jounin. Since then, it was impossible to travel anywhere leisurely.

She walked to her favorite spot in Konoha, a valley full of flowers blooming. But it was autumn, so the floweres were gone. Instead, it was filled with long grass. Temari sat down on the hill, closing her eyes as a breeze blew, giving her a refreshing feeling of cool air.

"I didn't have a chance to talk to you this morning." said a low voice behind her.

"Yeah." she replied. Kiba sat beside her.

"You come here often?"  
"This used to be me and," she paused, "**I mean**, yes it is my favorite spot."

"Were you about to say you and Shikamaru's?"

Temari flushed pink at what Kiba said.

"**No!** His favorite spot is the rooftop of some building…apparently he used to watch the clouds drift by and day dream at the same time."

"This is a nice place to be…far better than that rooftop of his." he said. Kiba smiled, and so did Temari.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Depends on what you're asking."

"It's not perverted or anything! I was wondering, if you could be reborn as anything in the world, except as a human, what would you be, and why?"

Temari was deep in thought; all they could hear was the wind.

"I would be a tree, because they're strong and independent, yet they can help other living things. It always remains in the same place, no matter what. So if anybody was ever lost, you could look at a familiar tree and find your way.

Kiba was silent. A flashback ran through his mind.

-Flashback-

"Hey Miko, let me ask you something." said Kiba. The brunette smiled.

"I'll only answer if I feel like it."

"Pfft." he replied, rolling his eyes. The two were walking down a trail, holding hands.

"If you could be anything if you were reborn, except a human, what would you be?"

Miko hesitated, but replied.

"I'd be a tree."

"Really…? Why?"

She laughed and kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear,

"So if you ever got lost, you'd be able to find me and find your way back home."

-End of Flashback-

"It's funny…but you said the same thing my ex said."

Temari was surprised, her eyebrows slightly rose.

"What happened between you two?" she asked. Kiba's hands curled up into balled fists.

"She died….from a mission. But before she died we broke up a few months ahead."

"Can I ask why?"

"I broke up with her. Her parents didn't approve…and I fell in love with somebody else." he answered.

"Oh…"

"You'd be surprised to hear who. I'm still in love with her…"

"Wow! That's great that you can be so faithful to one person! When did you meet her?"

"A few years ago, but she lives pretty far away. But I've become closer friends with her lately."

"Well then why haven't you asked her out?!" she exclaimed. Kiba sighed and looked up at the sky.

"Because she's still in love with somebody else…but I'm confused! I mean it's not like she's dating him or anything. Even though she's single…I'm scared to ask her."

"You know what I think? You should seize the chance of asking her out before it's too late." She placed a hand on top of his. Kiba closed his eyes and opened them.

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

Temari stood up.

"Sorry, but I have to go now." He also stood up. Without realizing what happened, he wrapped his arms around her. She froze, not knowing what to do. Instinctively she put her arms around him.

"Thank you." he said. She was released from the embrace. Temari placed a small smile on her lips and walked away. She couldn't deny the butterflies in her stomach.

Perhaps romance had hit her again?

-----

Temari decided to take a short detour to a big convenience store to stop up on her daily essentials. She picked up a basket and began to walk through the aisles. It strangely made her feel like she was at home, since she was always the one doing the shopping.

Not looking in front of her and looking at the cereals, she crashed into someone. It all happened too fast; she, along with the person fell to the floor, items scattering everywhere.

"Oh My Gosh, **I'm so sorry**! Here let me help you!" cried out Temari. She didn't look up, instead she starting to pick up items off of the floor. Her hand and the other person's hand both reached for the can of soup and collided. Both hands quickly withdrew.

"Sorry!" they both said. Temari became strangely suspicious of the voice and decided to take a look at who she had crashed into. A pair of black eyes stared back into emerald-green ores.

"Shika??" she blurted.

"…that's the first time you've called me that in years."

She became flustered, not knowing what to do. He ignored her frozen state and continued to pick the scattered items up. She snapped out of her pause and helped him.

"Thanks" he said.

"It's no problem…." she replied. Shikamaru got up and offered Temari a hand. She faintly blushed and took it. His hand was warm and strong, and she felt like her hand was fragile and weak compared to his. Her slender fingers fit perfectly into his surprisingly soft hand. He pulled her up easily and quickly released her hand.

"Sometimes you look really cute when you blush like that…" She turned crimson.

"You shouldn't be saying such things," she said, "you have a girlfriend."

"…and other times you look like you're not able to breathe." he finished. Temari's eyebrow twitched and she slapped him on the arm.

"OUCH! Troublesome…" he muttered. She rolled her eyes and shot him a glare.

"You are so irritating sometimes Nara."

"Whatever." he replied.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and then Shikamaru asked,

"I was wondering…" said Shikamaru, "would you care to join me for dinner tonight? I haven't had anytime to talk to you without interruptions…and I've wanted to talk with you in perfect solitude for a long time."

His eyes showed sincerity and compassion that was melting her heart.

"But what about Ino? Won't she get upset?"

He though for a moment, then replied,

"I'll tell her it's a guy's night out."

"But what if she asks Naruto or Neji about it?"

"Then I'll just tell her I'm going with Chouji and I'll tell him to keep his lid shut over the matter."

"But what if-" He placed a finger on her lips.  
"Enough about 'buts' and 'what ifs'. I'll take care of it. You really worry way too much."

Temari rolled her eyes.

"What time will you pick me up?" she asked.

"Around seven. That's fine right?"

She shrugged. He sighed.

"How troublesome, I have to go do my laundry after this."

They both started moving towards the cash registers.

"Doesn't Ino go grocery shopping and do chores most of the time…rather than you? The Shikamaru I know is one lazy ass bum."

"The last part was really unnecessary you know." he glared.

Temari laughed.

"She's always at her family's flower shop working when she's not on a mission."

"So…you're like the stay-at-home boyfriend or what?"  
"Nah, both of us are never really home that much."

Temari raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru began to place his items on the counter.

"But what about now?" she asked.

"Now is an exception. Tsunade-sama has been kind enough to give me a break after all those non-stop missions she's been throwing at me.

"Oh." was all she could say. He gave the cashier the money and grabbed the plastic bag.

"See ya later."

She nodded in acknowledgement… but inside,

Temari felt ecstatic to go on a date.

-------

Temari looked at the clock. It read six thirty. She had taken a shower; blow dried her hair and straightened it to fall perfectly in place. Her true dilemma was what she was going to wear. She didn't know whether to formally dress up or not, and so she was throwing clothes all over her bedroom.

"Not this….no not this….definitely not this…"

Temari pulled out a kimono; short sleeves and a short length. It was white with sakura petals and flowers on the front and back. The outline around the edges was a faded magenta, and the ribbon tie was a rosy pink. She tried it on and modeled it in front of the long mirror in the closet. Temari decided to keep the outfit and began scrimmaging for shoes.

"Stilettos...no, I'd probably break my neck. Boots, no, Sandals, no…"

She decided to don a par of black kitten heels with a small bow and ribbon tied just above her ankle. She checked her teeth and smiled. It felt like three years ago, preparing for another date. Temari heard a small knock on the front door, so she had one last quick check up on her make up-less face and walked over to the door.

Temari opened the door and smiled.

----

"You look…nice." stammered Shikamaru. He simply wore a black blazer over his white dress shirt, a black tie, and black jeans.

Temari blushed.

"Thanks. You look great too." she replied. This moment felt like their first shy date. But this time, things were different.

Shikamaru and Temari started walking down the streets, with him leading the way.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked. He smiled.

"Somewhere. You'll see." he answered.

Temari was hoping it would be a quiet romantic restaurant with a reserved table for two but it ended up being…

"BBQ?" questioned Temari, "you don't even like barbequed meat."

"So you remembered." he said. She gave him an exasperated look.

"Thenwhy are we here?"

"One, because Ino would never step into this place, and two, this is where we went on our first date. See, I **try **to make things romantic but you never realize it. I can't believe you forgot." he said, smirking at the last part.

"I didn't forget!" she panicked, "I was just about to think that when you said it."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Suuure…" he mocked.

"Oh shut up." she snapped. They stepped into the restaurant.

"A table for two?" asked the hostess. He nodded and they followed behind her.

"Is this spot good?"

"Yes, Thanks." he replied. Temari and Shikamaru took their seats. The hostess removed the extra cups and cutlery and said,

"Your server will be here shortly."

Temari looked at the menu, grimacing at the choices of items she really didn't want to eat. She took a quick glace at Shikamaru and saw that his expression was the same.

"Um… how about we just order Combo A for two people? We can share it, I guess." suggested Temari. He looked up from the menu.

"Guess so." The waitress came to their table.

"What would you like to order?"

"We'll order Combination A please." said Shikamaru. She wrote on a pad of paper and took the menu's away.

"So…now that that's over, let me ask you, do you have a boyfriend? Or a past one?" he asked. Temari chocked on her tea.

"What kind of a question is that?" she exclaimed. He smiled.

"I'm curious. A woman like you should've obtained a date over the past year."

She sighed, then said,

"I was asked out to dinner a few times…but I rejected all of them."

He nodded…

"I see."

Temari nervously played with her feet. She hadn't felt so jumpy since their first encounter this week.

"Kiba likes you, you know that?" said Shikamaru. Temari's eyes widened with shock.

"What?!" she hissed. He calmly took a drink from his cup.

"I'm dead serious."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think that?" He raised his hands and shrugged.

"Just the way he talks to you, taking quick glances at you while you're not looking…"

"Oh," she said "well that's a big surprise for me."

Shikemaru smirked and said,

"If he asked you out, what would you say?"

"Do you mean 'out' as in a date, or boyfriend?"

"Hmm… both." he answered.

"I would say yes to the date and not so sure about the 'boyfriend' thing. I mean lately… I've been feeling these strange feelings for him. But I'm also having a dilemma to counter that issue to."

Shikamaru remained silent.

'_Damn…Have I said too much?'_ she thought.

"Did you ever regret…about the 'us' that happened?" he asked. Temari felt the sudden mood change, and was thankful he didn't ask any further questions on the topic before.

"No… never. I would never regret the 'us' that happened. But things change…"

"I'm surprised to hear that." he said, "I used to wonder if you ever regretted it. Now that I know, I'm glad."

Shikamaru smiled. Temari smiled back.

"Well then! I have a question for you. Do you ever regret hooking up with Ino?"

His smile toned by a notch.

"I'm not answering that."

Temari's mouth dropped wide open with disbelief.

"Hey! Why not!" she protested.

"Just cause I don't want to."

She glared at him.

"You annoy me Nara."

Shikamaru laughed at her mocking glare. Temari pretended to take a swing at him, but missed deliberately.

"So, back to you Temari…how's Konoha faring for you?"

She almost twitched an eye.

"That's the third time someone has asked me that." He raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"You didn't answer the question." he mocked. She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her tea.

"Whatever." she replied. Once again, Nara seemed to have irritated her; again.

"Here's your order!" said the waitress, as she handed them a platter of raw meat. She turned on the grill located at the centre and said,

"Enjoy!"

'_I'll try not to enjoy biting his head off!'_ thought Temari.

----

Temari and Shikamaru were slowly walking back to her hotel, taking the long route. The two walked together, though there was a distance between the two; they were too embarrassed to walk side-by-side each other.

"It's a beautiful night out" said Temari. Shikamaru nodded his head.

"Yeah…"

The silence in the air was deafening; he wanted to laugh and joke around, just like odl times…

'_Just like old times…'_ he thought. But he sighed. _'Things are too different now.'_

"You said this to me once…that there is no other comparable beauty to the moon. Tell me, do you still believe that?" she asked.

"…" He remained silent, looking as if he didn't hear the question, but the pair of them knew better. Shikamaru stopped in his tracks and looked up towards the moon. Temari also stopped.

"What's wrong?" she questioned. He smiled at her and said,

"Nothing. I'm just thinking." She also smiled and replied,

"You think too much." and ran on ahead.

'…' He laughed, and raced towards her, not feelings as desperate as he was before.

* * *

Ahaha I hope that was long enough for you guys.. I have finger cramping from intense typing.  
Hopefully I'll update next weekend ...

And do I sense a love triangle going on?? senses tingling  
You'll have to read and find out! XD I've always wanted to write that... it's so corny but I LOVE IT.

Read and Review!


	7. Confessions

No comment (for once). gasp shock. (I bet you're all relieved you don't have to read some stupid authors comment here).

* * *

Chapter 7

**Confessions**

Temari knocked on the polished wooden doors that leaded into the Hokage's room. She smoothed out the front of her kimono; she wanted to look at least presentable.

"Enter!"

Temari opened the door and quietly shut it behind her. She walked up to the desk. Tsunade was facing the giant windows across the room, the back of her chair facing Temari.

"Um… Hokage-sama, you told me I would be able to meet my guide today."

Tsunade turned her high backed chair around, facing her with interlaced fingers.

"He'll be here shortly, don't worry."

"Have you heard from the Kaze-kage? Anything about how long I will be staying here for?"

"I haven't heard from him yet; I'll let you know as soon as I get his message."

From the other side of the room, a loud bang was heard. Temari turned around out of surprise.

"Sorry I'm late Tsunade-sama. Naruto told me that-"

He stopped and saw Temari, and flushed red form embarrassment. He bowed down low and said,

"I'm very sorry Hokage-sama, Temari-san."

"It's all right Kiba," said Tsunade "you're only a minute or two late. Anyways! You know what your mission is right?"

He shook his head, a frown upon his face.

"What!? Didn't Naruto tell you?!" she exclaimed.

"He didn't tell me anything except to come here, and he said something about gambling, but I really wasn't paying attenti-"

A vein pulsed in Tsunade's forehead, and her eye twitched simultaneously.

"Damn it… that Naruto…." she muttered. Temari coughed, making sure she wasn't forgotten. Her sudden cough seemed to bring the conversation back on track.

"Your mission is to be Temari's guide today. here's a list of places you'll need to show her around." She handed him a sheet of paper and continued speaking.

"You should be able to complete all these locations by today or tomorrow, and no later! Understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" he replied. Tsunade nodded and said,

"You're dismissed."

Temari followed behind Kiba and walked out to the streets. She was carefully walking beside him, making sure she wouldn't lose sight of him.

"'Kay well it says 'Ninja Academy' on the top of the list, so I guess that's where we're heading." he said.

"Yup."

She checked through her folder so that she had all the necessary forms and said,

"Let's go." Kiba nodded and leaded her to the direction of the school.

----

Walking with Kiba seemed to have proved to be less awkward when compared with Shikamaru. Temari found herself easily getting pulled into the conversation, and every silence was used to rest their non-stop talking mouths, rather than a silence because there was nothing to say.

"We're here," said Kiba, "you remember the exterior of the academy right?"

"Yeah…but I'm not so good with the interior."

He laughed and replied,

"That's why I'm here."

They walked into the school and Temari spent most of her morning and part of her afternoon in the academy. Kiba decided to help some of the students train while she asked the instructors questions about teaching methods, and observed the classes. Time passed quickly; Temari and Kiba both ended up going out for sushi. Both were happily eating their sashimi and teriyaki.

"…So the kid almost nailed me in the eye! I am never teaching those kids how to throw kunais!"

Temari laughed and said,

"Talk about bad luck!"

Kiba rolled his eyes at her comment. He eyed the empty dishes and bowls on the table, and suggested,

"Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure" she shrugged.

-----

They ended up walking under many trees, giving them shade from the afternoon sun.  
"Can I tell you something?" asked Temari. Kiba smiled and replied,

"Of course you can!"

"The truth is…. I've never had so much fun with a guy for such a long time! I really liked hanging out with you today." she said.

'_Other than the weird date with Shikamaru…'_ she thought privately.

Kiba's cheeks had a tint of pink of them, and his smile became bigger.

"I had fun hanging out with you too."

They continued walking, but at a much slower pace than before. Kiba stopped and ran his hand through his hair. He placed a hand on her arm, and said,

"I can't stand it anymore!!" Her expression became troubled and worried.

"Can't stand what?" she asked. He looked down at his face, but he looked into her forest green eyes.

"I have a confession to make. Temari…you know how I told you that I really like someone…"

"Yeah…." She knew what was coming next. After all, she was warned, wasn't she?

"…and that someone is…" he paused, but regained the courage to continue

"…you"

Temari, although she knew what he was going to confess, couldn't keep her face from pretending that she was 'surprised'.

"I've always liked you! Even though you were always with Shikamaru, I hoped that we would become friends and maybe…maybe blossom into something more…" he whispered.

Before Temari even knew what was going on, before her brain processed everything, Kiba leaned in and kissed her. She was frozen from shock. Kiba pulled her body closer towards himself; one hand was on her neck and the other was around her waist. Temari couldn't hold back her unconscious craving, and gave in into her temptation. Their lips parted, but were back on each other's again.

Temari felt shivers going down her spine as he licked the roof of her mouth. Maybe it was to her imagination, but she was actually enjoying the kiss. It was very different from the ones she and Shikamaru shared. His were gentle and soft but firm, while Kiba's were more aggressive than she was used to.

Realizing what she was doing by thinking of Shikamaru, she gently pushed Kiba away. He was confused as to why she had pushed him away, but he didn't pursue the topic.

Breathless, he asked,

"Want to go back home now?"

"Yes." she answered. He took her hand and interlocked with his, and began walking with a grin on his face. Temari had accepted his non-spoken question that was hanging about in the air.

Shikamaru was worried, extremely worried. His dinner with Temari did not go as well as he would have liked, plus Ino was irritating him nearly to death. His current location: on the roof top of a building he always went to so he could watch the clouds. He was starting to doubt his relationship with Ino. Breakfast with her did not go well.

-Flashback-

"Morning Shika-kun!" chirped Ino, preparing breakfast for the two of them. He stumbled in and walked into the kitchen.

"Morning." he yawned. As he was reaching over Ino to get a mug, she kissed him on the cheek. He ignored her and began to fill his mug with coffee. Ino wore an expression of unfathomable confusion. Shikamaru normally would have hugged her and kissed her, but

'…_maybe he's having a bad day?'_ she thought.

Shikamaru sat at the dining table, drinking his coffee. Ino placed his and her breakfast on the table.

"Thanks." he muttered. She frowned and sat across from him.

"Shika-kun, is something wrong?" He looked up from his food and said,

"No, nothing's wrong." He went back to eating. This made Ino more upset and slightly angry.  
"You're completely ignoring me! ...have I done something wrong?"

Shikamaru sighed and replied,  
"Once again, nothing's wrong and I'm not mad at you." A look of frustration appeared on his face, making Ino angrier.

"Well if nothing's wrong, will you at least look and talk to me?!"

"…" He didn't say anything, which was exactly the wrong move to make.

"**Shikamaru Nara!** What is up with you!! I'm your girlfriend…. yet you've been completely ignoring me during this past week! What is taking your attention all the time?! Can't you at least** try **and talk to me! I'm your girlfriend…" she snapped, "I thought we would be able to trust each other and talk to one another…no matter what the issue is. Aren't we supposed to help each other…?"

Shikamaru remained silent, pondering, then replied,

"Sorry."

Ino's cheeks became red out of anger.

"Is sorry the best you can say?" she whispered. He didn't reply.

"**Is it!?**" she yelled. Shikamaru looked away from her. Ino slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"When you have something decent to say to me, then you can talk to me and apologize actually meaning it!" she snapped. Ino stomped out of the dining room and slammed the front door on the way out.

-End Flashback-

Shikamaru's head was filled with so many overloading thoughts. He had been wondering about his feelings towards both Temari and Ino. He really did love the blonde… but maybe that love could only be extended as friendship. He didn't feel the strong emotional pull he felt with Temari. Then again…why did he leave her for Ino? Wasn't he sure that Ino was his soul mate? Why…why? He had known her for years, ending up on the same team, and became close friends with her.

But Temari…. she suddenly appeared out of no where and into his life. They first met on the battlefield as enemies. But as time passed she saved him, and he saved her in close battles. Every time they met, insults were thrown at each other, ending with laughter. He always wanted to make her smile, to hear her laughter ringing in his ears.

Ino…what was she to him? A friend… or a lover? What was he intrigued by her? She was always kind to him, always smiling at the darkest of moments. Maybe the reason he left Temari for Ino was because of her abilities to raise his spirits. But, Temari; just seeing her smile already made his heart soar. Then why? Why did he leave her? Had he chosen Ino because it was the easy route? Why did he leave her? Truly…why?

-Flashback-

It was a rainy afternoon for Konoha. The sky was pouring buckets and all the people ran for shelter. All except Shikamaru and Temari. He had asked her to meet him under a special sakura tree by her favorite reading spot. He saw her running towards him, not carrying an umbrella, bangs sticking onto the sides of her face. As she slowed down to a walk, coming closer to him, he could see her radiant smile under the pouring rain. How heartbreaking it would be for him to break her smile and her heart into pieces.

"Shikamaru!" she yelled. She ran up to him and gave him a wet soggy hug. He wanted to enfold her into his arms, but he unwillingly pushed her away. Temari's smile dimmed, and was replaced with a confused look of worry. Another wave of despair ran through him.

"W-what's wrong?" she asked him. He looked down, trying not to look into her eyes…her beautiful pool of emeralds, trying to regain his control speak.

"What's wrong?" she asked him again. Shikamaru clenched his fists and forced himself to look at her, into her eyes.

"I don't think this is working." he said. Her eyes widened with shock. He almost withered, looking at her.

"W-what did you say??"  
"I said, I don't think this is working out." he said more strongly. He saw her eyes flicker, and he could tell she was trying her hardest to hold back her tears.

"People work problems out Shikamaru…why won't you tell me what's wrong?! Shouldn't we work it out first?" she exclaimed, her voice teetering from cracking.

"It's complicated."

"Please…don't do this! Please don't do this to me! Why? Why Shika why?" she pleaded.

"There's another woman!" he blurted. He saw her heart shattering into more pieces through her eyes. She looked towards the ground, away from him, and then back to him.

"…who?" she whispered. He then looked away and said,

"Ino. It's Ino. I'm sorry Temari but…she needs me."

"I also need you…"

"I'm sorry…but you're strong, you'll pull through this." He took one last long look at Temari's crying figure, and walked away.

"I'm so sorry." he whispered, but it was lost in amidst of the pouring rain.

-End Flashback-

Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do…but he couldn't do it.

Her lips, her smell, her laugh, her smile…there was so much more he could add to the never ending list.

'_I love you'_ he thought, as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was agonizing to write that whole scene with Kiba and Temari... ugh ugh ugh just horrible!! (and also the break up flashback, but not as much). 

For those of you who think I support Kiba x Temari, HAH! Hardly!

**Only Temari x Shika for me ) **

Hope this was a non-crappy chapter!!

**Please Read and Review! I'll give you a chocolate chip cookie!!**


	8. Broken Relationships

I'm hoping I made this chapter long enough cause I seem to have a problem with making long chapters; they always end up so short when I write 4 pages (on Microsoft Word). .;; **Most** annoying.

Anywho,

**ONWARDS **with the story.

**[EDIT- 07/12/30:** Okay I tried to upload this story a week ago, but it wouldn't add on as a chapter; trust me, i was working at it for an hour and it wouldn't budge. . Sorry Sorry. And this chapter IS short .. dont worry next chapter is lengthy. )

* * *

Chapter 8

**Broken Relationships**

Temari sighed out of pure bliss and looked out her bedroom window. Her relationship with Kiba was at its starting points, but she knew that it could really work.

'_Maybe it'll turn out better than last time.'_ she thought. Even so… a grey cloud was still looming over her thoughts. Why did she accept Kiba so quickly, when all the other men that had asked the same question she had rejected?

'_Obviously because I like him,'_ she reasoned _'surely I wouldn't have accepted if I didn't like him that way…right?'_

But the question remained unanswered in her head, no matter how many excuses she could come up. Temari shook her head, trying to stop her train of thought.

'_Stop thinking about it so much! He likes you, and you like him! End of discussion!'_ she thought. However, even though she tried as hard as she could to stop her thoughts, her conscious kept bringing up even more. She was curious, and wondered if Shikamaru heard about her and Kiba.

'_Like he would care!!!!'_ she absent mindedly rolled her eyes. But secretly…she wanted to know his true feelings about it, _if_ he knew. Happy? Maybe. Sad? Could be. Angry? Probably… **not**. Depressed? Most likely not.

'_He has Ino… and now I have Kiba. So stop being such an idiot and thinking stuff like this!' _ Temari's two-sided arguing mind was brought to a halt when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming!" she yelled. She made her way towards her door, clumsily. She opened the door with force. Kiba stood in front of her, holding a bouquet of tulips, all in perfect orientation. She smiled at him, overjoyed to have company. He shly handed her flowers, saying,

"These are for you."

Temari received the flowers and lightly kissed him on the cheek. As soon as it came, she had an instant flashback of Shikamaru.

-Flashback-

"These are for you…sorry about the.. you know.. mess." grumbled Shikamaru, drenched, holding a bouquet of colorful tulips, wilting from the weight of the water, with a blue ribbon scarcely holding it all together. Temari laughed at the sight of her wet boyfriend and ran out to get a towel for him.

-End Flashback-

She froze, not noticing Kiba was giving her a weird look, raising his eyebrows. He lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Um… Temari?"

She snapped back into reality and shook her head.

"Sorry Kiba…mental brain lapse for a second there." she said.

'_Smooth move.'_ she thought to herself. He laughed and shrugged it off.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Give me two seconds." she answered, quickly running inside and throwing the flowers on the coffee table. She looked at her reflection in the mirror that was on the table counter and quickly re-did her hair, as she was running out of the room. Kiba smiled lovingly and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Temari, feeling a little awkward, blushed and looked down.

"You're so cute when you blush… did you know that?" whispered Kiba in her ear. He slowly moved his hand down on her cheek, his fingers feeling her smooth, ivory skin.

He lightly kissed her on the lips. How easily she returned his kisses. It made her (once again) wonder if she was just plain hungry for kisses and didn't actually like the guy. She mentally kicked herself for thinking such a horrible thing.

'_All you can do is think about this when he's kissing you??' _

Kiba was slowly moving into her mouth, exploring inside, but she gently pushed him away, but he took it as a sign of passion. Temari, feeling a prick of irritation, forcefully pushed him away with the palms of her hands. He gave her a questioning look, and so she quickly answered,

"I don't want to be caught by the old lady down the hall."

Kiba nodded and leaded her out. Her lie seemed to have satisfied him. They walked down the streets, hand in hand.

"Where to today Kiba?" she said. He quickly responded,

"We're going to go to the weapon manufacturing factory today."  
"I see." Off in the corner of her mind, she was thinking about something else… or more or less **somebody** else.

'_How many times do I have to tell myself that I don't like him in that way? It's too late now.'_

"Kiba?" she asked. He turned to her and said,

"What is it love?

"Erm … never mind." Kiba raised an eyebrow and faced away from her.

"Okay..."

Temari absent-mindedly followed behind Kiba. She wasn't really watching where she was going and crashed into his back, falling on the ground when he stopped.

"Whoa, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kiba." she replied. He lent her a hand and she got up from the ground. He looked at the 'closed' sign on the door and silently cursed under his breath.

"Damn. I forgot it closed on Fridays."

"It's okay; the walk here was needed for me anyways." she said. He ran his fingers through his hair and apologized.

"Sorry about all this trouble."

"It's no problem, really!" she exclaimed.

"Well, want to go somewhere since we're-"

"Kiba-kun!!" shouted a high soprano voice from a distance. Hinata was running full speed towards the two.

"We have a mission. Tsunade-sama needs us to go to the briefing right now!!" she huffed between breathes. Kiba sighed and nodded.

"You go on ahead, I'll be right behind you." he said. He turned to Temari.

"I'm really sorry… I'll make it up to you, I promise."

She smiled and smirked, replying,

"You know I'll be holding that against you when you come back." He laughed and sprinted off to where Hinata was heading towards. Temari felt a sudden breeze against her arms and cheeks, bangs blowing in the wind. She wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered.The summer season was starting to lose its heat.

Temari started walking back to her "home", not really paying close attention of the surroundings around her. She wasn't really too sure where exactly she was going; her memory was foggy.Temari was too unaware where she was heading. She took random turns, hoping it would lead her somewhere familiar. Her pace quickened, and soon she broke out into a run. She took a right turn at the path and swore.

"Shit! A dead-end!"

She turned back and tried to re-trace her steps. Temari kept walking, and on her way she heard talking and laughter. She quickly turned around and saw that the people who were making the loud racket and noise were a gang of greasy gangsters and unhired shinobi. They were staring directly at her, and she turned around; she knew it was a mistake to do so. One of the members cat-called and another wolf-whistled; one yelled,

"Hey sexy! What's going on!"

Temari immediately look away and broke out into a run. She didn't turn back and kept running. As the footsteps became less louder behind her, Temari turned to look. She bumped into someone, and that someone grabbed her arm. She turned around, and to her horror, it was one of the gang members she had seen.

"Nobody can outrun us. And I mean** nobody**." he whispered right to her lips. She inhaled the stench of alcohol and cigarettes from his breath. Temari tugged her arm towards herself, trying to escape from his grasp, but he held her tightly.

"I don't think you're going anywhere, missy. Hey guys, over here!! Look what I've found!" he yelled.

'_Shit! I left my fan, and I only have a few kunais left.'_ she thought. Temari kicked the man's shins and punched his face; he released her from his grip.

"Fuck!" he swore, as he placed his hands over his bleeding nose.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" said another member. Several men circled her. Temari placed one hand in her back pouch, the other hand in front of her, ready to hit anyone who would come near.

"Heh. I like'em feisty." said the same man.

'_Obviously the macho leader.'_ she thought.

"You want this? Then come and get a piece!" she yelled. The man raised his hand and the members circling her suddenly ran towards her. Temari quickly drew out a kunai and placed her hands into a seal and formed three clones of her, and quickly began to fight her enemies. The real Temari was trying to look for an escape route out of the corners of her eyes, but the gang members were scattered everywhere, leaving no escape.

'_Damn it!' she thought 'I'll have to fight my way through.'_

She stabbed the nearest man on the arm and started to beat her way through. The member groaned with pain, cussing under his breath. Temari was quickly injuring anyone in her way, not paying any attention to accuracy anymore.

Another gang member was running towards her, wielding a small knife. He lunged towards her, so she grabbed his arm and used her elbow and smashed it into the muscle between his chest and his armpit. A member tried to use this as a distraction and tried to stab her arm from the back, but she whipped around and punched his face.

Temari was about to turn back around, but she couldn't move her legs. The leader had herded her into a strangely drawn box on the ground, trapping her; he had caught her into a jutsu. She tried to lift her right foot up, but it did no good. The leader came from behind and walked in front of Temari, his hands in a certain seal position.

He chuckled and said,

"I'm surprised that I had to use this one you. Like we said, nobody escapes from us." She didn't talk and didn't dare to look up. Temari could only pray.

'_This is it,'_ she thought _'I die in the hands of some petty gangsters and rapists.'_ She was about to scream out until she heard,

"What the hell?!"

Everything was chaos. The members were frozen, and the leader had a look of horror on his face. His hands were slowly untwining themselves, though it looked like it was being forced, and was going to his sides. Temari felt a big weight lifting off her legs. She looked down at his legs and look around to see where her captor was, almost fainting with relief and surprise.

* * *

Can you guys guess who saved her??? wooAHHwoahhh! XD 

I'm sorry if this was an extremely short chapter; truth is, I'm supposed to be studying for a test tomorrow ;; Next update will be sometime this weekend.

Ciao


	9. Escaping From Her Dreams

Moo.I hope this chapter will satisfy everyone )

* * *

Chapter 9

**Escaping From Her Dreams**

Temari gasped with surprise. A long shadow was connected from the leader to Shikamaru. Several other shadows also connected all towards him. Shikamaru smirked and said,

"Man, does trouble go looking for you or what?!"

Temari silently thought to herself _'Thank God'_. She kept her not-helpless composure and smirked.

"Like I said, you annoy me Nara."

Shikamaru and Temari knocked out the remaining members and walked out of the alley.

"Man," he said, exasperated, "how did you even end up here? This place has warning signs all over the place."

She shrugged and replied,

"I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going…"

"And where's that idiot Kiba? Leaving you here…how stupid can he get?! And then he had to drag me into this! How troublesome."

"He had to leave for a mission! It's not his fault!" defended Temari. Shikamaru raised and eyebrow, raising his hands in defeat.

"Sheesh, defensive much?"

She rolled her eyes, muttering "Whatever" under her breath. As they walked, silence began to creep behind them.

'_He saved me… how can I ever make that up to him…'_ she thought.

"So," said Shikamaru, breaking the still silence, "I heard you got together with Kiba…is it true?"

Temari felt her mood drop down 10 degrees. She really wasn't in the mood for this, and she didn't want **him** to know.

"Well??" he asked again, impatiently.

"Um…yeah."

"You sound a little reluctant. Is anything wrong?"

"No, it's nothing!" Shikamaru chuckled and said,

"I know that tone. I know something's bugging you, c'mon, tell me."

"… I just don't know how to repay you for saving my butt out there." she lied. He gave her a look that literally said 'I know you're lying', but didn't ask any questions.

He laughed and replied,

"What are you talking about? You don't need to repay me anything. That's just what friends do."

Temari laughed, thinking,

'_Is that all we are? __**Friends?**__'_

"I'm lucky to have a friend like you Shika."

"You haven't called me that since…" he whispered quietly under his breath; it was barely noticed.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Nevermind. You** should** be glad that you have a friend like** me**."

"Pfft!" snorted Temari "don't let that inflate your head even more. I was just saying it in the moment."

"I know that you're jealous of me."

"Yeah, okay." she sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes. Shikamaru looked at her and asked,

"I'm wondering about something… but maybe it's best if I don't ask."

"You're not supposed to say that if you don't want to say it!" she looked at him with exasperation, "now I'm curious. Tell me!! What is it?"

"Well… why **did** you say yes to Kiba?"

"…" Temari opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out, so she decided to avoid the question.

"What is it to you whether or not I said yes?"

Shikamaru raised his arms and just shrugged.

"I'm just curious."

She looked down and bit her lip. Why was she regretting this topic came up? Shouldn't she be proud that she can prove that she has finally gotten over Shikamaru? That she has a lover too?!

"Temari. We're at the hotel now."

"Oh.. right okay."

Shikamaru gave her a worried glance.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm-I'm fine. Thanks for walking me home." she replied.

"No problem. See ya…" he turned around on his heel and muttered,

"Be safe."

Temari turned around to see his face one more time, but he was already gone.

-----

Shikamaru was reluctant to go home. He was afraid; not of what **Ino **will do, but what** he** should do; it was already after eleven. He slowly opened the front door, and said,

"I'm home!" He closed the door behind himself and said,

"Ino, are you there?" Shikamaru walked into the living room but no one was there. He was going to check in the bathroom but something made him stop. The tiniest sound of a sniffle.

He paused, trying to remain as still and silent as possible. He heard it again, but this time he heard it as if it was muffled. Shikamaru turned around and quietly walked in the direction of Ino's bedroom. He slowly turned the knob and peeked through the crack between the door and the frame.

'_How troublesome.'_ he thought. Ino looked away from him and muttered,

"I knew I should've gotten a lock for the door."

"If you did that," said Shikamaru, slowly advancing towards her, "I wouldn't be able to surprise you in the mornings." He smiled, trying to cheer her up. Ino glared and rolled her eyes.

"Right. Whatever you say."

"What? You don't believe me?" he grinned, having a coy smile on his face. Shikamaru sat in front of her, legs crossed. Ino's mouth didn't budge.

"Unless you apologize, I'm not going to forgive you." He sighed and a look of reluctance appeared on his face.

"You know I'm horrible at these."

The ends of her mouth twitched.

"Oh, I know."

'Man I hate this.' he thought. Shikamaru took her hand between his, looked at her in the eyes and lowly whispered,

"I'm sorry and I won't do it again."

"What did you say? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said, I'm sorry and I won't do it again!" he yelled.

"What?!"

Shikamaru raised and eyebrow and said,

"I'm not doing it again." Ino smiled and hugged him.

"I know. But I hoped."

Shikamaru was lost in thought, he didn't hear a word Ino said after he apologized.

'_Was this what I wanted??' _

'_Of course, you dolt!'_ said the other part of his brain, _'if you didn't, then why are you here apologizing, instead of…'_ He shook his head as if it would get rid of his thoughts. Maybe this is how it was supposed to be.

Maybe…or…what?

-----

Temari felt like she had just went far past the low of all lows. Whenever she stepped into the outside world, she made sure that the coast was clear of Shikamaru and Ino. This, in her case, seemed impossible because they seemed to turn up wherever she decided to go.

How could she, Temari, one of the most skilled ninjas in the Sand, run around throughout the town, hiding from one guy and his girlfriend??

Temari sighed as she waited for her dango and tea.

'_Idiot! I'm such an idiot!'_ she thought. Temari had been harboring doubts about two things. One was Kiba, and the other…she tried not to think so much. Shouldn't she have been thankful that he saved her? Why was she feeling so depressed? Was his rescue a feeling of nostalgia? Was it-

'_**Shit!!!!'**_ she screamed in her head. She saw him walking closer and closer towards the dango shop. Temari flew out of her seat and hid under the table. She saw his feet passing by her table and away from her, to the corner in the back. She wiped her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

'Now all I have to do is leave some money and I'll be out in a-'

"Um….excuse me miss?" poked the waitress "your order his ready." The waitress gave her a skeptical look and walked away. Temari slowly got up, banged her head on the table, cussed, and sta back on her seat.

'_As long as he hasn't noticed, I can make my escape!' _

She smiled at her plan, and marveled at her ingeniousness.

"Ya know…" she heard a male voice behind her. Temari's body completely froze.

"…somehow I get the feeling you're avoiding me."

She turned around and laughed awkwardly.

"Hahaha! What are you talking about! That's nonsense!" she shouted in a pitch an octave higher.

"Then why are you shouting and your mouth all twitchy?" asked Shikamaru, with a smug smile on his face.

She laughed awkwardly again.

"You're such a joker!" He raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Temari stood up, slowly edging towards outdoors.

"Nice to see you again, but I gotta go, I have stuff to do."

She truned around to leave but Shikamaru grabbed her arm.

"Won't you join me for tea? You haven't even drank yours and you haven't eaten your dango."

"Um, I got to go-"

"Please?" Temari turned around, and saw his pleading face.

'_Damn it!'_ she thought.

"Fine!"

She took her seat across from him, her arms crossed across her chest.

"I haven't seen you much, where have you been?"

She shrugged and replied,

"Around."

"I know for a fact that you've been avoiding me."

"So what if I was!" snapped Temari. She didn't find a reason to lie for herself anymore.

"Well…most people don't like it when people avoid them, like me. Care to tell me why?"

"None of your damn business." she growled.

"I think it is, on the contrary."

"Then I** know** you're wrong."

"Temari, are you angry at me?"

"I'm not mad!!"

"Then why are you yelling?"  
"…" She didn't reply.

"It is because of me? Or Kiba?"  
"I told you, I'm not mad at anyone!" she exclaimed.

"Then explain why you've been avoiding me." he said calmly.

"…it's not important."

"You always say that. Yes it is!! That's why you're not telling me anything."

"Just…nevermind! Can't wa talk about something else!"

"Fine."

Temari glared at him.

"You **really** annoy me Nara." Shikamaru rolled off the insult.

"How are things between you and Kiba?"

"Why are all your questions related to me?"  
Shikamaru shrugged and calmly answered,

"Because I'm curious; curiosity isn't against the law." Temari rolled her eyes.

"Things are going fine, it's been 3 months now."

"Yeah."

"And how are things going with you and_ Ino_? Eh **EH**??"

"Okay."

"Just okay? Not great, fantastic, but just okay?"

"Fine, it's **great!** Are you happy now?"

Temari snorted and said,

"Whatever."

Shikamaru gave her a funny look and said,

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine! Are you done with 21 questions? Can I leave now?" she hissed.

"I didn't know you were in such a hurry to leave me."

She backtracked what she said, replying,

"I…I…didn't mean it like that."

"I'm sure." he sarcastically said. She looked down at her knees, regret filling her in.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to say it like that."

"…"

"And now you're silent! You really are a weird guy."

Shikamaru's pressed lips twitched at the corners.

"See! You want to say something back! I know you do!" she jeered.

"Actually, I'm still curious as to your excuse of why you've been avoiding me." he replied. Temari sighed and looked away.

"Truth is…I don't really know why either."

Shikamaru started at her, munching on a dango.

"Maybe I'm just being an idiot…I've been thinking too much of the past…what could've happened, what should've happened!" Her voice cracked, eyes becoming filled with her weakly held-back tears. Temari abruptly stood up, facing her back away from Shikamaru. Her cheeks were streamed with unsuccessfully held back tears.

"I think I've said-too much. Excuse me." She started to run away from him, pushing the waitress and customers out of the way. Shikamaru stood up, tried to follow behind her, yelling,

"Wait!!"

But she was too far away from his grasp… all he could do was watch her retreating back.

* * *

Finally, I'm finished this chapter!! My fingers are cold and aching . 

I hope this was a good chapter!.

**Happy Holidays! And Happy New Years!!**


	10. Favours

Wow, can you believe it? I'm updating!!! (I can hear the applause from the distance XD). So, let me tell you a little story as to why I **really** haven't been updating. Long story short, all my files got deleted off of my computer. Yes, **all **of them. I've recovered most of my songs, some pictures and (weirdly) all of my avi files. However, no such luck for "Moving On". Well, not that it really matters since all chapters I write on paper first, and I've uploaded all the word documented chapters anyways. Okay, enough of my rambling on, time for you to read the story! Onwards!

And for once (besides Chapters 1 and 2 ... and possibly 3), let me put my disclaimer down. Just for fun.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Yes, I know, shocking.

* * *

Chapter 10  
**Favours**

Shikamaru was under a fully blossomed Sakura tree. The branches were spread so widely that it was protecting him from the heavy rainfall Mother Nature planted. In the distance, he saw a tall blonde woman running towards him. As she got closer to him, he realized that it was Temari. She slowed to a walk towards him, drenched to the skin, but smiling. To him, she was like the sun in that rainy day, her beauty filling the atmosphere. Shikamaru stepped towards her, and Temari stepped back, frowning.

He was surprised; why was this angel frowning? He looked down at her feet and saw that chains had formed around her ankles, running into the ground. Shikamaru found a key by her feet, but out of reach for her to grab. He reached towards it, to free Temari, but Ino blocked his path.

"What are you doing? We have to-" Ino placed a finger on his lips and shook her head.

"You can not save her! You're not the one to do so."

"Why? What are you talking about?! Who is this 'one'?"

Ino turned around and pointed at the distance. Shikamaru looked towards the direction of where she was pointing at, and saw that Temari was no longer chained, but instead, laughing in Kiba's arms.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be! Let me go!"

He tried to push her out of the way, but Ino held him in a tightening, and strong grip. Temari and Kiba were starting to walk away, holding hands, disappearing from his sight.

"Wait!!" he called after them.

But it was too late. The world was slipping away…."It's too late…too late…" Ino's voice was echoing, sounding further and further-

Shikamaru woke up, drenched in sweat. He saw Ino beside his bed, patting his forehead with a damp cloth.

"Are you alright? You've been sweating and your forehead is boiling hot!"

"… Water" he said in a dry voice."Oh, of course!"

She reached over the counter and gave him a glass of still water. Sitting upright, he slowly drank the water, grimacing at the taste of the water that had been sitting there for a long time.

"I think you've got a bit of food poisoning from yesterday. I've called Sakura to come check to see what's wrong. She should be here soon." Shikamaru grunted in reply and went back to lying down.

"Were you having a nightmare? You kept saying 'Why?! What! And No!! We have to save her' It was really freaky!!"

"Yeah, it was a weird dream;" he turned to look at her face "I'm sorry you had to stay up listening to me talking in my sleep."

Ino smiled and patted his head.

"It's okay. Just get some rest." She lightly kissed his cheek and walked out of the room, discreetly closing the door.

Shikamaru was hoping he wouldn't be able to remember his dream, but it was crystal clear; the sight of how he couldn't release her really infuriated him. What was that 'you're not the one' talk all about?  
He muttered "Troublesome" and closed his eyes. As soon as he had shut his eyes, he heard a gentle tap on the door.

"Come in" he said.

He saw the door slowly open and a pink haired girl walked into the room.

"Hey! How are you feeling?""… not as bad as I think I should feel." he replied. She laughed and walked to the side of his bed. She read his temperature and checked his heart rate.

"I've heard from Ino about you sweating quite a lot and you shivering… you don't normally sweat during your sleep do you?""No, well, at least, not that I know of."

"I thought so. Ino's right about her diagnosis. You have a bought of food poisoning, but it's mild, so you'll be fine in about two to three days. Make sure you take the medicine I've given her every seven hours okay?"

"Sure."

"And no missions or trips elsewhere! You have to stay in bed. Capise?"

"Sounds good to me." he replied.

"Get better Shikamaru. Bye!" said Sakura. She left the room and closed the door behind herself.

All Shikamaru could hear was the chirping of birds outside of his open window, a warm breeze flowing through. Everything around him was serene, silent…but out of place. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something other than his dream, but it seemed like as soon as his mind took a moment's break, the dream replayed itself all over again.

_'Damn it…'_ he thought. Was his dream a coincidence… a hallucination? A sign!?

Or was it simply just a dream?

----

Temari was very annoyed and angry at herself. Out of all days she could've broken down and let the dams explode, it just had to happen on **that** day. Keeping her emotions in check was something that she easily did, that was part of her nature. Yet, on that one faithful day, she couldn't hold her tears back.

_'__Why was I even crying? I have everything I want; a family, friends, a lover__…'_ she thought. She sighed with frustration, shoving her face in her bed sheets. Temari heard the doorbell ring several times. She got up slowly from the bed, grumbling complaints under her breath.

_'__It__'__s probably those stupid idiots who keep asking me if I want to apply for something or another.__'  
_Without looking through the door's eye piece, she forcefully opened the door and blurted out,

"Whatever you want, I don't want to apply!!"

"Um…" Temari looked properly and saw Ino with her shocked expression. She turned pink and said,

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else…come in!"

She let Ino into the apartment, while thinking,_'__If it was you I wouldn__'__t have even opened the door__…__ damn! I should__'__ve used that stupid eye hole on the door!__'_

Temari almost let out a gasp and told herself to shut the hell up.

"I can't be here for too long, so if you don't mind, I'll just get straight to the point." said Ino.

Temari nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm going to be away for two days on a mission," she continued, "and I was wondering…"

Alarm bells rang throughout Temari's head.

"… if you could watch over Shikamaru. He has food poisoning, so he's not allowed out of the house."

Temari's eyes grew to the size of saucepans and she ended up choking and coughing.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea!"

"Please Temari! You're the only one who I can trust to do this!" begged Ino._'_

_Yeah right. You__'__re just asking me because I__'__m a lazy whore who has no mission and won__'__t hit on the boyfriend because I__'__m not single __aymore__'_ She mentally slapped herself for thinking such a thought.

"Fine."

Ino beamed with happiness, and gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you **so** much!! I'm leaving the village tonight, so while you're staying over at my house, you can sleep in my room!"

Temari nodded and tried to fake the best smile possible.

"I'll do my best!" she said. Ino walked towards the front door and yelled a quick "Bye" over her shoulder. She shut the front door a second before Temari screamed in one of the couch cushions.

---

Every bone in her body told Temari to turn around and spring back to her hotel. It took every last bit of resolve to make herself walk towards Ino and Shikamaru's house. After going, turning back, going, and turning back again, she finally made it to their house. Temari raised her right fist to knock on the door, but hesitated. _'  
__Ahhh__ you idiot!!__'_ she thought _'__just knock on the damn door! The neighbours probably think I__'__m insane or something.__'_

After internally arguing with herself she mustered up all her courage and knocked on the door. It was a only in a matter of seconds when she saw Ino's head pop up through the space between the door and the frame.

"Hi Temari!!" she said.

"Hello…" replied Temari.

Ino waved her inside, and closed the door behind her.

"Once again, thank you so much for taking care of Shika!" Ino looked at her luggage and said,

"Let me take that bag!"

Temari nervously laughed and replied,

"No, no it's okay! It's not heavy or anything, it just has my essentials!"

"Let me show you around the house!"

Ino guided her through the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and finally, her own bedroom.

"Here's my room; you can sleep here for the night."

Temari looked around the room. It was light, serene…and felt so open. She placed her bag on the bed, and glanced at a framed picture on the bedside table. She picked up the photo and commented,

"You look so cute together."  
_'I can understand why he__'__s in __love__ with you.__'_

Ino smiled brightly and stood beside Temari.

"Thanks! This photo was taken a year ago…. This is one of the two beaches in Konoha! It's quite lovely in the summer; you should really go some time!"

_'__I own a beach house there.__'_ Temari thought, but acted oblivious and nodded in agreement. She set the picture back down.

"I wrote all the emergency contact numbers and also when he as to take his medication. I'll be back in two days…and I hope Shika won't be too much of a handle."

"Don't worry," she reassured her, "he'll be easy to handle."

Ino, once again, flashed her a smile and replied,

"I'm gonna go visit Shika one last time before I go. Thanks so much, and take care!"

"You don't need to say thanks!! Bye." said Temari.

Ino walked out of the room Temari laid on the bed thinking,

_'__The torture begins.__'_

* * *

Lawl! Temari talks a lot to herself doesn't she?Well, this was kind of a filler chapter (sorry about that). We'll get to the good stuff next chapter. Heh heh.. I should be studying for my Biology test. My updates this week/next week are going to be a little random; my schedule is at the busiest time of the year. For those of you who are having exams/finals, **good luck**! I hope my luck pitches in XD. 


	11. Irritation and Love Don’t Get Along

Bah. Only one more week until Finals!! And the semester is finally over! I am so happy! I'm sure all of you are happy that I've typed up a new chapter, cause I am too! Wow! We're all happy!

Heh heh. Anyways, make sure you check on my profile every once in a while… I usually write updates on pretty much whatever. Hah. Okay, I'll shut up now.

**Disclaimer:** I felt like writing that **I don't own Naruto** today.

* * *

Chapter 11

**Irritation and Love Don't Get Along**

Temari was aimlessly sitting on the bed, looking at the closed door across, outside from the room. She had half a mind to run out of the house, but her sensible side told her it was pointless to do so, and the neighbours would think she's a ballistic idiot. She rolled of the bed, grumbling to herself, repeating,"Why, oh why, oh why …"

She walked towards the door, stepping out of Ino's room. She raised a fist to knock it, but hesitated.

"I know you're there."

Temari almost jumped ten feet up in the air. She looked around her surroundings, trying to detect where the voice came from.

"Come in." said the voice. This time she realized it was coming from inside the room. She slowly opened the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. Temari almost opened the door halfway, when the hinges made an ear-splitting squeak. Shikamaru's forehead scrunched up as the hinges squealed.

"Sorry!" she whispered. She walked by his bed and decided to lean against the wind sill.

"You know we're not at a church. You can talk normally."

"I was **trying** to be considerate." she hissed. He smirked and retorted,

"Thanks for trying." he said sarcastically. But he turned to her and smiled,

"I'm surprised; you're not avoiding me like you did two nights ago. In fact, I'm shocked that you even agreed to take care of me."

Temari rolled her eyes, and muttered,

"What are friends for? I'm not going to let you die from diarrhea."

He chuckled while giving her a glare from the corners of his eyes.

"Same as always."

"What's **that **supposed to mean?" He, once again, smirked and replied,

"Whatever you want it to be." She twitched an eyebrow.

"You-are-the-most-annoying-creature-ever!" she said through clenched teeth.

"You're one to talk, troublesome woman."

"You know what?! I'm going to get your medication and shove them down your throat. Maybe then you'll shut up."

Temari stormed out of the room and went into the kitchen. He snorted with laughter and closed his eyes. She quickly came back with a glass of water and two orange pills in her palm.

"Here" she said, as she handed him the water. He took the two pills from her hand and quickly swallowed them with a gulp of water to follow.

"Thanks" he replied. Shikamaru placed the cup onto the table.

Temari absently mindedly looked at his face, her eyes looking over his chiseled chin and his straight nose. She couldn't deny that he was becoming more and more handsome as the years went-

"Temari?" he asked.

"What?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She blushed with embarrassment and said,

"What are you talking about? I wasn't looking at you! I was looking at… at the… um… thing by your head!""…there's nothing by my head."

"…..oh shut up."

He smiled at his easy win and said,

"So you **were** looking at me, weren't you?"

"Only looking at that stupid smirk of yours." she replied.

He muttered, "Troublesome" under his breath and rolled his eyes.

Temari ignored him, and was staring at a weird board that was sticking out under the bed.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, as she reached for it. Temari picked it up carefully and showed Shikamaru the object she was holding.

"It's a shougi board." He looked at her, but all he got was a blank and confused response.

"Erm, what's shougi?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You've never played shouji before?

"Obviously not genius."

"Interesting."

"What do you mean by that??" She shot him a curious, and suspicious look.

Shikamaru gave her his infamous smirk.

"Looks like I'm gonna have a new playing partner."

She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

---

The clock on Shikamaru's bedside table read four o' clock. Daylight was slowly diminishing, the sun was setting, and Temari **still** didn't understand as to a clue of how to play shougi.

"Shikamaru, you have got to be the worst explainer ever!! It's been 2 hours already and I still don't get it!" exclaimed Temari.

Shikamaru sighed and retorted,

"You're just slow."

A vein pulsed on her forehead.

"Shut up. You just suck at explaining things. If you properly taught me, maybe I would actually **know** how to play."

He raise an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Troublesome woman." He muttered under his breath.

"Stupid head." She insulted. He chuckled and replied,

"What are you, an eight-year-old?"

"Oh that really hurt Nara." She sarcastically snapped back.

He moved his piece and said,

"Your move."

Temari blankly stared at the board for several minutes. She moved her hand towards one of her knights, but Shikamaru said,

"Bad idea."

She moved her hand towards a different piece, and he clicked his tongue. She shot him a glare and hissed,

"You know, the point of this game is to have **two** people playing."

"Sorry" he shrugged, "I'm just telling ya…"

Temari, once again, stared at the shougi board, no moves running through her mind. She closed her eyes and said

"I give up. This is hopeless."

Shikamaru laughed and replied,

"Nice attempt on trying to play… if that even counts as trying."

"Oh **haha**. Shut it Nara."

He chuckled and cleaned the pieces away. She placed the board back and lay on his bed.

He looked at her, and crawled besides her, sitting cross-legged. Silence rang throughout the house.

"It's almost winter." said Shikamaru.

"I know… I wonder how long my brother is going to let me stay here for."

"Hmm."

She looked at him with her brilliant green eyes. Emerald forests met onyx pools.

"…you know, I've never experienced a snowy winter before." She said.

He looked at her with surprise.

"Really?"

"Well, it doesn't exactly snow in the desert…and I've never visited Konoha during the wintertime."

"Snow in Konoha is something you can't miss! It's the most beautiful season here!"

"I've never seen snow."

"What?!" he raised his eyebrows, "surely you've seen snow!"

"Nope."

"Not on TV?"

"Nope. I mean I've read about it, and I've heard about it…?"

"But you'll never know until you experience it!!!!"

Temari laughed and replied,

"Geeze Nara, I've never seen you so excited about anything, in general, before."

He shrugged and said,

"It's just very shocking, to hear about someone never to have seen snow. You don't live life until you've seen it. That's why, you won't leave here until you know what it is. I won't allow you."

She laughed and retorted,

"What's so special about snow? It's just frozen rain drops."

Shikamaru replied almost inaudibly. In fact, Temari wouldn't have realized he was talking if it wasn't for the fact she was staring directly at him.

"Once the snow falls and goes…spring is reborn."

Temari's jaw almost dropped when she heard this. It took her all her will power not to go 'Aww'.

Instead, she giggled and said,

"Wow, I think that's the first time you've ever said anything so poetic before!"

He laughed along with her, not breaking the eye contact between each other. As their eyes looked onto one another's, it was as if they could read each others mind. He started to lean down towards her, their eyes hypnotizing one another. She felt her heart racing faster and faster as he was getting closer and closer. Their lips were so close; they could smell each other's fragrances coming off their skin. Temari closed her eyes, it was so close, so perfect-

**BANG!**

There was a loud bang heard outside of the door, which startled the pair. Even so, they were frozen with their faces inches away.

The door slammed open, which made Shikamaru and Temari immediately jerk away from each other; no one needed to see and imagine what was going to happen a second ago.

"Na-ru-to!" yelled Sakura, panting behind him, "how many times do I have to tell you, **NOT TO BARGE INTO PEOPLE'S ROOMS AND MAKE A RUCKUS!!**"

"But Sakura-chan!!" whined Naruto, "It's not like they were having a moment or anything."

He almost muttered,

"And I think you're the one making all the noise Sakura-chan."

A vein pulsed in the pink-haired girl's forehead.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?? **SHANNARO!**" She winded up her right fist and punched Naruto on the cheek, who flew ten feet up in the air and bonked his head on the ceiling.

Naruto fell on his behind, his hands on top of his aching head, saying in as much pain as possible, "Ow, ow, ow…" repeatedly.

Sakura ignored the blond and stepped over him., and into the room.

"Anyways!" she brightly said, as if the previous scene never happened, "we came over to tell you guys about the 6th Hokage's Coronation Ball."

Shikamaru and Temari both had confused looks on their faces.

"But Tsunade-sama is still alive. Don't they normally choose and initiate one after the present Hokage dies?" asked Temari. Sakura absent-mindedly twirled a strand of hair between her fingers.

"Yeah, that's true, but Tsunade-sama has already written in her will that Naruto is to be the one to succeed her after she passes away, and the elders of the village also agree with her. So they've decided to host the ball now, since there is the possibility that she might step down. The village is preparing for anything that could happen; deciding the next generation's Hokage will help if in the present Tsunade-sama dies in battle."

Temari's eyebrow was raised in doubt, as she watched Naruto "nursing" his injured cheek.

_'Can that idiot really be __Hokage__?' _

Shikamaru looked at Sakura with a face on annoyance and asked,

"Does everybody have to be present?"

"Yup."

He rolled his eyes and muttered,

"Great."

Temari laughed and said,

"You think everything is a bad thing! When is the Coronation Ball?"

"I think it's in a month… January 30th from seven to midnight. Right Naruto?"

Sakura turned to look at him.

"Um, sure Sakura-chan!" he said. She glared at him. He gulped.

"You didn't know in the first place did you?"

Naruto started to sweat profoundly; beads of it started rolling down his forehead.

"Uh… no?" he weakly answered. Shikamaru and Temari continued to stare at the scene unfolding before them. Sakura was walking closer and closer, and his hands went up to his face, trying to defend himself. Her hand whipped out and aimed for his forehead. Naruto cringed as her hand came swinging down.

"Sakura-chan, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me…" he was muttering prayers under his breath until she said,

"You idiot! How can you not know the date of your own coronation?"

She lightly patted him on the head. Naruto released a breath of relief. Saved.

_'Girls are weird.'_ thought Shikamaru.

"The ball is billed as formal, so make sure you wear proper clothing attire."

She started walking towards the front door.

"Wait!" yelled Temari, "why don't you stay for a bit?"

Sakura turned around and apologetically smiled at her.

"Sorry, but I have to be telling everyone door to door about the ball. See ya later!"

She walked out the door, and shut the door behind herself. There was now only three left in the house. A few seconds later, and the door opened.

"Hurry up Naruto!!"

* * *

Ahh so that wasn't really event filled; sorry about that. I promised you action packed drama later on. For those of you who are wondering, no, the Coronation Ball will not be occurring next chapter, but later on. Mmm. I didn't really like writing this particular chapter. . 

**Reviews** would be **awesome!!** :) I'd like to hear more feedback.

Have a nice …day? Sure. Why not?


	12. Laughs, Pain, & Tears

Okay, so I lied about updating over the weekend… heh heh, sorry about that (don't hurt me please). And for those of you who want to know, I finished my exams two weeks ago; I just need to wait three more weeks until the results come up!! I'm excited!! And I've been coming up great ideas for my other fic XD. I now present to you, the 12th chapter of Moving On!! (clap clap clap)

(Did** not** added the disclaimer this time… if you really want to read it… go look at the last few chapters)

* * *

Chapter 12  
**  
Laughs, Pain****&**** Tears**

Shikamaru felt odd. He didn't know what had come over him at that moment, but it felt as if he was whole. He was alone in the house; Temari had left to do some unnecessary grocery shopping.

_'Probably just trying to get away from me'_ he thought.

He knew why she didn't dare to look at him in the eye, and looked at the ground while talking to him. He didn't bother to ask.

Shikamaru couldn't deny it. The connection he had felt earlier that day was too big to miss. He had wanted to kiss her out of his own free will. He didn't even think about Ino as he moved closer to Temari's lips; his mind was just filled with the lovely jasmine scent coming off from her hair. It was as if he was charmed, hypnotized. Like his body was on auto pilot, his thoughts having no control over his actions. The moment was just so perfect, but Sakura and Naruto had such bad timing.

Shikamaru was confused. He knew his feelings for Temari was resurfacing like a piece of drift wood in water. That one fateful day, as soon as he saw her, those buried feelings had rushed up, but he the effort he had used to suppress it was slowly weakening, ready to break out free.

Yet, even as he thought of Ino, and her feelings for him, he didn't feel guilt. Yes, Shikamaru knew he loves her, but maybe it wasn't enough to hold him back and settle down with her. He had tried, but maybe the reason why he felt indifference when Ino was angry at him, but guilt when Temari was angry with him was because he was denying the truth the entire time.

He **loves** her. The girl that just pulled his heart strings like a guitar. He was an **idiot**. But he wasn't ready. Not yet.

-----

Temari had decided to go out "grocery shopping" for dinner. She walked into the store, and smelled the delicious, freshly baked goods from the bakery inside. She felt like, once again, she was at home, sweet, home. Temari went over to the produce section and started to pick out the good tomatoes from the rest. She tried to distract herself as much as possible, examining the condiments much more than necessary in the aisle. But she failed to ignore the questions popping up of the earlier incident, looming over her like a dark cloud.

She kept repeating to herself that it was a relief that Sakura and Naruto had accidently intervened, or else anything that could've happened would be upon her conscience. But it was an excuse Temari could only come up with after she had left the house. All she could think about was an "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity was destroyed thanks to the particular twosome. She sighed and walked towards the cashier, placing items from her basket onto the conveyor belt. She missed Garaa and Kankuro. He would've made funny jokes to make her feel better, and Garaa…well, his presence would be comforting. Life in Konoha felt surreal; it was something that came out of a soap opera, not to her liking.

"That will be thirty dollars Miss."

The monotonous voice of the cashier made her snap back into reality. She gave her the money and took the bland grocery bag. As soon as she stepped out into the open, it had begun to rain. She saw villagers scrambling for cover, others calmly walking with an umbrella in hand.

_'Great,'_ she thought, _'just what I wanted….'_

Being neither of the two, she trudged back to Shikamaru's house. The rain felt nice on her overheated skin. Rain was a rare experience back in the desert. The sky didn't show mercy upon the village and continued to fall harder. Temari quickened her pace. She didn't want the contents in the bag to get wet. She finally arrived on the doorstep. Temari hurried into the house.

"I'm back!" she called out. An incoherent reply was yelled back.

Temari's clothes and hair were drenched and sticking to the sides of her face. She kicked off her shoes and carefully ran to the kitchen, placing the bag on the counter. Then she ran into Ino's room, carelessly half-closing the door behind herself. Trying to get the objects in the room soaked, she tiptoed through everything. She opened her suitcase and searched for clean clothes. Temari found a clean tank top and sweatpants, and shimmied herself out of her outfit. She discovered that her bra and underwear were also partially wet. She groaned, and took them off, beginning to scrimmage through her bag once again.

_'Damn! Where is it?!?'_

"Temari!" said Shikamaru. She heard him, but wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention.

"Did you buy the cookies that I-"

At that same moment where he had stopped talking, she had unknowingly turned and stood up, facing him by the door.

----

They stood there, frozen for a fraction of a second. Temari quickly tried to cover herself with her hands, and turned her back towards him.

"Get out, get out, **GET OUT!!**" she screamed, along with a pillow flying across the room.

Shikamaru was already out the door and slammed the door closed. He was panting, his heart rate was up so high he could feel his veins pulse with unnatural speed. He tried with his best effort to not think of her, but it was an impossible feat. Her body was in the still frame of his mind. Sure, he had seen her with undergarments on before, but the whole package was truly a first.

Her smooth ivory skin complimented her curves and yet he could still make out the scars. At that fraction of a second before he turned, he nearly swooned. She was lovely, far too lovely. She was close enough to see, but too far to touch. It was out of bounds for him. He closed his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.

_'That birth mark on her ass is __**hilarious**__.'_

---

Temari was embarrassed. It wasn't "oops I flashed my underwear", it was "**oh God, my ex just saw me naked!**" Truth be told, she was quite proud of her body; her toned stomach took months of hard sweat and blood at the local gym. But out of all people, it had to be Shikamaru to see everything. She sat there on the floor, immobile.

_'My life is __**ruined forever**__. I have to leave town, travel across the country, and get a new job…'_

How could she ever face him again? Temari grumbled and cussed as she spotted what she was looking for. She quickly put everything on and almost let out a scream. Why did all the bad things happen to her!? Temari almost screamed once again before shoving her face into her bag, cussing.

---

Dinner was awkward. Too awkward that even Naruto wouldn't have been able to break the silence with a stupid comment. Temari looked won at her plate, not even daring to look anywhere else. If their eyes met…well, she didn't know what she would do, but she had a feeling that the scene that unfolded today would playback. It was something she would gladly **not** experience again.

However, she was curious about him. She had a desire to peek at him just once, for a second. Just for one second. She was curious as to what he was thinking of.

'Hopefully not me naked'

Temari bit her lip. She wanted to look at his expression **real** bad. She made an impulsive decision and decided to act upon it. Temari slowly raised her head and eyes away from the plate, slowly moving up and focusing on him. She finally glanced at his face, and realized he was looking out the window. Intrigued as to what he was looking at, she turned her sight out the window. Disappointment washed over her; there was nothing unusual outside.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, breaking the icy atmosphere.

Shikamaru had a surprised look on his face, but quickly recovered. Temari had barely noticed the change of emotion on his face; she couldn't tell if it really happened. His face was emotionless and turned his gaze towards the window once again.

"I'm waiting for snow" he simply replied.

A weird feeling shuddered through her spine. Shikamaru's voice was quiet… and bleak. Her intuition spiked up like radar, beeping out a bad message. She knew it couldn't have been due to the incident; something as ridiculous as that wouldn't have made him act this way. A lump formed in Temari's throat as she softly whispered,

"Are you upset because there's no snow?"

He didn't look up at her, and rather, blankly stared out the window.

"…" he didn't reply back. Temari dropped her gaze and focused on her half-eaten dinner. Regret came over her and she wished she had never asked such a question. Silence consumed her.

"You wondered why I liked snow so much," he finally said.

_"What's so special about snow? It's pretty much just frozen raindrops."_

_Shikamaru replied almost inaudibly. Temari wouldn't have even noticed him talking if it wasn't for the fact she was staring directly at him._

_"Once the snow falls and goes…spring is reborn."_

"…but that isn't the only reason why. My sister's birthday is today."

Temari still didn't understand what he was talking about. She knew he had a sister, but she had never seen her. She didn't even know her name! Temari always assumed that his sister was a busy girl and didn't have time to meet her. And she didn't understand how she related to the situation.

"Her name is Yuuki. She was named after the first snowfall Konoha had in over fifty years of not having any snow. She-"he paused, as if something was restraining him to talk, but continued.

"...she died five years ago, in the spring. Her dying words were 'winter will always come and go, but spring-"he choked on his words, eyes glazed over. His sentences came out in a restrained voice.

"-spring will always be reborn over and over again. Isn't that funny Shika-kun?' Her eyes closed and she died with a smile on her face."

Temari was also on the verge of crying. She closed her eyes, giving in to the water dams bursting to explode. Streams of tears rolled down her face, dripping down to her chin. She didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Oh Shikamaru!!" she blubbered.

He let out a short laugh, saying,

"The great Temari crying over a stupid story? Ridiculous!"

He laughed, more and more teardrops forming in his eyes. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He was startled, but slowly placed his arms around her.

"You can cry you know, it's not a girly thing to do."

"Oh shut up." He replied as his tears started to stain her tank top.

In her memories, there were tears, there was laughter, there was pain and there was joy. Temari had experienced it all, but sometimes, it felt good to have a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

So, how was it?? (Horrible) ) I know this wasn't my greatest chapter, but don't worry. I made the ending of this chapter happy, more or less. 

Good? Bad? Blah blah blah there's still more to go, so sit tight. Next update will be soon enough/this weekend.

**(Review the horror please)**

By the way, the first part of this sounds really bad because I wrote it after I finished typing out the written portion because it was too short. Honestly, if you really want you can ignore the first bit. XD

**Preview for Chapter 13** (I'm bored, might as well do this)Why do the two always end up being** hot and cold?** (mwahahahha great preview eh?)


	13. Never Too Late

Whoo!!! Another chapter of Moving On!!! Yaaay! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I wrote a new summary for this story, 'cause the first one sounds kinda dull (in my opinion). Tell me what you think! Does it suit the story or not? (You can PM me or review). And I should've written this at the beginning of the story but:

All stories written by Mcmooster (aka **me**, the author) are under Copyright Terms (Creative Commons).

You all know the disclaimer by now, cause if I did own Naruto, I'd make Temari and Shikamaru together XD (I'll shut up now)

* * *

Chapter 13

**Never Too Late**

_Continued from Chapter 12…_

"Shikamaru, let's go." Temari said, as she dried her eyes with her kimono's sleeves.

"Go where?" he asked, giving her a curious look. A serious expression washed over her face.

"To your sister's grave." she replied, almost as if it was obvious. He sat there, appalled at her suggestion.

"What??"

A look of annoyance twitched on her face.

"Did you not hear me correctly? Let's go to your sister's grave!!" she answered with irritation. He looked away, feeling embarrassed at his own ridiculous behavior.

"Let's go then."

He stood up and took large strides down the hallway. Temari hurried behind him, not wanting to be left behind. Shikamaru grabbed his coat from the closet, and passed hers. Along with her coat, he passed her gloves and a scarf.

"Here, these are Ino's but they should fit you well enough."

"Thanks." she said as she slipped on the gloves. He buttoned up his coat and opened the front door, letting her pass by first. He locked it and walked up to where she was waiting.

"It's not far from here." he said as they both crossed the road.

A cool breeze was blowing to their faces, the cold nipping at their cheeks and noses. The walk was silent, but it was comfortable enough for the both of them. Temari focused her eyes on the path, but every once in a while, it would stray to his face, watching his expression. They had passed by a flower shop when she told him to stop.

"What is it?" he questioned. Temari pointed to the shop and said,

"Let's buy flowers."

He silently nodded, and followed behind her. She was surprised that the store was open during the evening, and stepped in.

The scents of flowers were overwhelming. In every direction there were different explosions of colors beautifully displayed in careful order. Behind the counter, a kind-faced woman stood with piercing blue eyes and light blonde hair, smiling at the pair with recognition in her eyes.

"Shikamaru-kun, what brings you here?" said the woman. He walked towards the counter and replied,

"I'm here to buy some flowers." She turned her head a little ways to look at Temari, who was checking out daffodils at the side.

"Who's the pretty lady that came with you Shikamaru-kun?"

"That's Temari-san; she's a friend of mine. Ino asked her to take care of me while I was sick."

A worried expression formed on her face, and she asked,

"I guess you're well enough to move around? Are you sure you're okay?"

He nodded, reassuring her.

"I'm fine Mrs. Yamanaka."

She laughed and said,

"How many times have I told you to call me Namaki?"

He shrugged, and replied,

"I guess it's just a habit to call you that Namkai-san, sorry."

She smiled and her blue eyes sparkled.

"How about I help you and your friend pick some flowers?"

She made her way to where Temari was, Shikamaru following along behind.

"Do you see any you like?"

Temari glanced at the woman, and back to the blue irises. She reached for one and smelled the scent.

"These flowers are so pretty! Do you grow them yourself?"

"Yes, our family owns a vast garden." she answered.

"Can we buy a bouquet of irises?" said Shikamaru, looking over Temari's shoulder.

The older woman gazed at him with a curious look.

"You know irises are symbols of resurrection. Are you visiting your sister's…." she trailed off.

He gave her a stiff nod, and a small smile was forming at her lips.

"Good for you. It's nice to visit once in a while."

She remained silent, carefully picking out the best out of the bunch. She held the vivid blue irises against her chest and laid them out on the table, wrapping them with precision and speed.

"There you go." she said as she passed the bouquet to Temari. Shikamaru took out his wallet, but a hand stopped him.

"It's on the house."

Temari and Shikamaru both thanked her with gratitude and stepped out into the cold winter air.

"That was Ino's mom wasn't it?" she asked him.

"Yup. That flower shop is owned by her family. Their family has been working there for generations; it's the most famous in Konoha for their unique array of flowers."

"Wow. That's amazing." she said, breathlessly. They both quietly kept moving onwards, humming tunes under their breath. Taking a left turn, they had finally deserted the main road and were on a smaller pathway, winding towards the long billowing hills. Temari could make out the stone shapes from a short distance away. She remained close to him; she never really liked grave yards. Shikamaru expertly moved through the rows of them, abruptly stopping.

She knew this was the one. It was made of white marble, and the words were easy to make out.

Nara Yuuki

Died December 28, 1999

"Spring will always be reborn"

She gazed at the tombstone, her eyes welling up again. Temari gently placed the flowers in front, and took a step back. She placed the palms of her hands together and bowed her head in prayer.

Shikamaru was already a step ahead, a single tear streaming down his cheek. She closed her eyes and thought to herself,

_'Wherever you are __Yuuki__-san, Shikamaru misses you very much. Thank you for protecting him, and on your behalf, I'll keep an eye out for him too. It'll cause less trouble for you. He can act a bit like an idiot sometimes, but he has good people around him. You don't need to worry about him at all, because we're also there for him.'_

She opened her eyes, and wiped away her blossoming buds of tears from her eyes. She took Shikamaru's limp hand, squeezing it, hoping that it would help him feel better. He gave her a small, sad smile and turned back to look at the stone.

They had stood there for an hour, comforting each other in the silence. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said,

"We should be heading home now, it's getting pretty late."

"You're right, let's go back." he replied. They slowly made their way out of the grave yard, when Temari suddenly had a weird feeling run up her spine. She paused and turned around, her eyes scanning to find another person. Shikamaru turned around and asked,

"What's wrong?"

She turned back and said,

"I feel like somebody was watching us back there."

He smirked and said,

"Are you afraid, scaredy-cat?"

Temari rolled her eyes and hissed,

"Shut up! It's not like that. But I feel like someone was watching us that entire time."

He sighed and said,

"It was probably a small animal, a bird, or a rabbit. Don't worry about it. Whoever or whatever was watching us didn't attack, and probably just lost interest."

Temari bit her lip and gave up on the subject. She knew he wouldn't listen no matter what she said. But she knew that something was wrong. And somebody was watching them very closely.

---

They had ended up back home another hour later, and Temari was finally glad she was out of the cold. Shikamaru had whipped up some of his infamous hot chocolate and they ended up on the couch together, holding a mug.

She was sitting with her weight leaning against the armrest of the couch, toes touching the carpet, while he was sitting beside her with his legs crossed.

Somehow, after the ordeal they had gone through tonight had made her feel much better than she had ever felt before. It almost made up for everything that had happened so far. Somehow she felt fresh…. like having a clean start. What Temari had experienced tonight with Shikamaru wasn't intimate or love between two lovers. It was pure, genuine friendship, a feeling she had never really felt with him. Her heart wasn't racing up the charts as she looked at him. Right now, she felt comfortable, just right.

"Temari?" he said.

"What is it Nara? You're ruining the silence."

He smirked and retorted,

"Well maybe I don't like it."

"Well I **do**. What do you want?"

"Look out the window on your left."

She turned her head and saw flecks of snow slowly falling from the heavens.

"No way!!! It's snowing!!"

She leapt up from her seat and jumped towards the window, almost slopping her hot chocolate all over herself. She pressed her nose against the glass. Shikamaru laughed and said,

"C'mon, let's go outside."

She snapped her gaze towards him.

"What! Right now? But it's midnight! And we just came back from out there."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's been at least two hours since we came back, and besides, so? Who cares? It'll be fun, let's go!"

"B-but, but!" she began to protest.

He tossed her a thick winter jacket and a pair of new gloves.

"That'll keep you from freezing. C'mon, hurry!!"

Shikamaru was already by the front door, zipping up his coat. Temari groaned and tried to put on her boots with haste. She finally managed to arrange herself and said,

"I'm ready!"

Shikamaru took her hand and opened the front door, leading her outside. Temari's eyes grew big, trying to swallow as much as she could of the breathtaking scenery in front of her. The streets were filled with piles and piles of fluffy white snow on the ground, and every surface top available. She breathed in the crisp, yet warm air of the snowfall. Little specks of snow surrounded the air everywhere.

"It's so beautiful." she whispered, as if the beauty of nature would break under her voice.

His laughter echoed through the trees.

"I told you, Konoha is at its best during the winter."

She smiled and replied,

"I guess you were right."

She brushed her damp bangs out of the way. Snowflakes were stuck on her long eyelashes, making them look as if they were the color white. She wrapped her arms around herself, and was lost in her own world. She was entranced by the simple wonderland that was in front of her eyes.

_'I wish Garaa and Kankuro was here to see __thi__-__'_

She felt something wet and soft hit her back. She turned around and saw Shikamaru laughing at her, holding a round snowball in his hand. Her nostrils flared and she snapped,

"What was that for Nara?!"

He kept choking with laughter, and replied,

"To see the expression on your face! Priceless!"

Temari shoved her hand into a pile of snow and tried to throw a snowball back at him. It was a miserable attempt; the snowball had broken apart before it reached its target.

"You're gonna have to better than that!" he yelled, and he started to prance away from her.

"You jerk!!"

She chased after him, throwing rapid snowballs at him, but he dodged all of her throws. Eventually, Temari had given up trying to hit him, and decided to dog pile him into the snow. Whenever Shikamaru was barely at the grasp of her fingers, he took an extra step to place a distance between them. She decided to stop chasing him like the dainty person she **wasn't**and lunged. She flew into him and pushed him to the ground. They both landed into the soft snow, laughing. Shikamaru was down on his back, and Temari was on all fours, overtop of him.

"How do **you** like that now Nara?" she said, her triumphant face inches from his. He smirked and replied,

"Troublesome."

He grabbed one of her arms, and saddled his way around her, forcing Temari to be the one on the snow, and him on top.

"A woman shouldn't be on top of a man, that's just not right."

She rolled her eyes, while snorting,

"You and your 'man and woman' theories."

"You call them theories… however, I say it's the truth."

He started to tickle her, poking at her sides, causing her to flinch and push him away.

"You-idiot-stop-it!!" she said in between her giggles. They were soon only centimeters apart, and without any sign, Shikamaru pressed his lips onto hers. Temari didn't push him away; instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. Their emotions flowed between each other, and for once, it was as if they could read each other's thoughts. He kissed her as gently as he could; once, twice, three times. They broke apart, knowing what was going on between their minds.

"You know we shouldn't be doing this."

He nodded, and replied,

"Such bad circumstances that we have."

He frowned. She sighed and looked away from him.

"We can't. We both know we can't."

She returned to stare at him with her jade orbs.

"I know."

"If everything was different, I would hold on to you, forever. But it's too late now."

A startled expression appeared on his face.

"What do you mean it's too late? It's never too late!!"

She shook her head in frustration.

"We can't **do** this! We had our chance Shika! The 'us'…. the 'us' is gone! The chance for us to be together has already passed."

"Is that what you really think?"

"I don't think it. I **know**it. Maybe fate's decided we weren't supposed to be together."

He snorted and clenched his fists together.

"Do you really believe in that kind of nonsense?"

"…" she didn't reply.

"How can you say that? After all we've been through?"

She looked at him angrily and snapped,

"The only thing we've ever been through is pain and nothing more."

He abruptly stood up, looking down at her.

"So you're saying all of this was for nothing? That those kisses, those times that we looked at each other with such passion, was absolutely nothing for you?!""It wasn't like that, but don't you realize what kind of a situation we're in?? We're with other people, can't you understand that!" she yelled.

"You're denying the chemistry we have Temari. How can you deny the fact that when our eyes meet my heart is racing up the charts and I can't control myself?"

She stood up to his level, becoming more and more furious.

"Our relationship is over. Don't you remember that** you **were the one that broke up with me?"

He remained silent. She glared at him.

"You broke my heart Shikamaru. But I moved on, and time mended that hole. You need to move on too."

He started at her with blazing intensity in his eyes.

"Leave him."

"What did you say?"

Her eyebrows furrowed together as he said the words.

"I said, leave him and be with me."

"What kind of an ignorant statement is that?! I'm not leaving Kiba for you! I'm not that kind of a self-degrading woman! You can't take back what **used** to be yours!!"

She turned on her heel, but he grabbed her arm.

"We both know that we can **never** be just friends Temari."

She turned around and whipped his hand away from her arm. She began to walk away from him, and said,

"Then I guess that just says things loud and clear."

* * *

Ohhh what now??!?! XD This was fun to right, especially the fight scene (I love writing fights!)

I hope this was a good chappie for you guys, it's probably the longest I've ever written! Sheesh.

**Read and Review** please!! )

And thanks to all those readers, because without you, my world would be bleak. Party!!!


	14. Shopping Frenzy

GACK! MY HAND HURTS LIKE A (insert swear word here). I swear I was writing for like 3 hours straight on paper .;; (I was finishing up this chapter and the next).

Anyways, I'm really sorry for the slow update, but I hope I can make it up to you! Actually… I think I've had punishment enough from my cramped hand. I'm off to Hawaii in about 2 days, so no updates this weekend after this chapter (I'll upload the next when I come back)

Okay I'll shut up now. (And if you really want to read the disclaimer, read back a few chapters)

* * *

Chapter 14

**Shopping Frenzy**

After Temari's argument with Shikamaru, she was barely seen in Konoha. Garaa had given Tsunade permission to send her out on mission to keep her skills sharp and in tip top shape. It was mission after mission for her, and the rare times where she got to take a night's break before the next, Temari was found sleeping in her room, and never out in the public. 

But even her vigorous schedule could not keep her mind off of their heated argument. Every time Temari recalled back, her feelings changed from embarrassment to anger to sadness. She had thought on that night, their feelings would be cleared and finished. 

However, the conversation took a turn for the worst, and before she knew it they were angry at each other. 

Temari sighed as she sipped her morning coffee. The Hokage had given most of the recruited ninjas a break from missions due to the Coronation. She looked out the window, watching people walk down the street. Temari absolutely detested formal events, but the Coronation was important, too important to miss. 

She looked at the oven clock, which read ten o' clock. She had planned with Sakura to go shopping for dresses. Temari shuddered at the thought. Only the pink-haired girl would have been able to force her to come.

'_I don't know how she does it, but Sakura-san is the only person that could ever make me do this' she thought._

-Earlier-

Temari closed the room's door behind her. An annoyed expression was apparent on her face. She was tired, grumpy, and craving for coffee. She threw her keys on the table and leaned her giant fan against the wall. Temari entered the kitchen and placed a kettle of water on the stove. She crashed into the arm chair and jumped up almost five feet in the air, screaming,

"What are you **doing** here?"

A shape that was on the couch sat upright and started laughing. Her violent pink hair stood out in the dim light.

"Temari-san, you should've seen the look on your face! Priceless!"

Temari's mouth twitched at the ends, her nostrils flaring.

"Very funny, forehead girl." she sarcastically retorted. Temari did not bother to remain polite.

Sakura immediately shut her mouth after her response, but glared back. 

Temari broke out into a smile as she watched the girl's weak attempt to glare. Sakura giggled and grinned.

"Temari, I was waiting for you to come home from your mission. I wanted to ask you something."

Temari raised a delicate eyebrow, becoming hesitant and suspicious.

"…what is it?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping for dresses with me and Hinata-chan?" replied Sakura. A menacing voice was carefully veiled in the question.

'_It sounds more like a demand than a request.' _thought Temari.

"Erm… as much as I'd love to Sakura-san, I ca-"

"Oh please, please, please!" interrupted Sakura, immediately going down on her knees, her hands placed together as if she was praying.

"Ah…um…"

She attacked her will power with a pout. Temari groaned in defeat.

"Fine. I'll go." She said. Sakura jumped up, squealing with childish joy.

"Yay! Thank you!" 

She wrapped her arms around Temari, giving her a bone crushing hug.

"You're welcome." she choked out. The kettle began whistling like crazy.

"Want some tea or coffee?" asked Temari. Sakura nodded and replied,

"Coffee please."

She got up from her couch and glanced at the clock on the wall.

'_Great, I guess I'll be up all night…'_

---

Sakura had stayed over till two in the morning, thus concluding the reason why Temari had unrecognizable bags under her eyes. They had both agreed to meet at her hotel room. In a strange way, Temari was looking forward to the shopping; Konoha was very well known for its large shopping districts. She never spent much time there when she came to the village due to work or she was elsewhere.

Kiba, as much to her relief, was rarely in the village due to back to back missions. She didn't tell him about her argument with, nor that had she kissed Shikamaru. Temari had tried to come up with many strategies to tell him, but failed, not ready to tell him the news. She knew she had to tell him sooner her later before he found out elsewhere.

'_The later or never sounds good to me.'_

Temari sighed and stared at her empty mug. She just couldn't tell him.

'_Kiba's heart would be torn in two.'_

Besides, she didn't want to throw their growing relationship into a rut.

Temari had reached a decision.

'_I'll tell him when we're at a stronger point in the relationship… and when I know he'll be able to take the news.'_

She could only hope that her decision wasn't going to fail her.

---

"Shika! Shika!" yelled Ino from the kitchen. A grumble was faintly heard from a distance.

"Breakfast is ready!"

She joyfully hummed a tune as she opened the curtains behind the counter; the sunshine stretching itself into the room. She placed two plates on the dining table and sat down, waiting. He finally came out from the hallway, still in his sleeping clothes. Shikamaru plunged himself into a seat, blankly staring at the food before him.

"No sleep last night?" Ino asked with an amused tone.

He nodded, replying,

"More or less."

She took a bite out of her toast, while saying,

"The ball's really soon, did you prepare for it?"

"Not yet," he grumbled "what a waste of time, honestly. I really hate that kind of stuff. It's a day that I'll never get back."

"That's so you. Besides, it's for Naruto! Just think about that the entire time and you'll be fine. It's only for a few hours."

"A few **agonizing** hours; you forgot to add the agonizing part."

Ino laughed, almost choking on her finished piece of toast. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever mister grumpy, just eat your breakfast."

She picked up her empty plate and walked off into the kitchen.

Shikamaru daintily picked up his fork and tried to puncture through a piece of strawberry on his pancakes, but gave up hallway. Too much was going through his mind, ruining his appetite.

He had pretty much ruined his friendship with Temari; he doubted she'd ever forgive him. She rarely did so. He had not meant to say things so bluntly that night, but he couldn't stop himself. His mother always told him to think before talking. It was odd; he never had too much of a problem of saying something regretful, with the exception of when he was younger.

Shikamaru pondered in his seat, absent-mindedly playing with his food. He grabbed the syrup bottle and poured half of its contents in. The pancakes were becoming soggy with sweet pancake syrup.

'_Oops…' _he thought. He hated putting in too much.

He was confused. All he wanted was for her to acknowledge him like a friend again.

He maybe a genius, but at love he was hopeless.

---

Sakura pulled off an off-white dress off a random rack and threw it across to Hinata, landing on her head.

"Try that!" she yelled. Hinata looked at it nervously, fingering the satin material, whispering,

"Sakura-san, I don't think I could ever wear such a –"

"Nonsense! You'll look fine! Now c'mon, get in there!"

The pink-haired female 'gently' pushed her into an empty dressing room, shoving more dresses onto Hinata's arms.

"Don't you think you're being a little bit harsh on her?" asked Temari.

"Of course not! She's a big girl, she just needs some persuasion." 

Sakura smiled brightly, in almost a frightening way. Temari slowly edged away from her, not wanting to fall victim of being her Barbie. She went through the racks on the wall, but there was nothing that caught her eye. She went back to where Sakura was standing, arms crossed, staring intensely at the dressing room's door.

"Hina-chan, come out now!" she said, as she furiously tapped her foot.

'_She's exactly like Tsunade-sama…'_ thought Temari.

"But… Sakura-san… I think this is too revealing…" quietly replied Hinata, "I don't feel comfortable in this."

"Oh don't worry it's just us girls!" she answered back. A tiny sigh was heard behind the door and she emerged.

"You look so cute!" squealed Sakura. Temari smiled encouragingly back.

Hinata stood in front of the two with a pink blush slowly forming. Her arms were crossed, on hand on her shoulder, making a V shape. She was wearing a black dress; it was held up by the material tied around her neck, like a halter. It had a deep neck line, plunging down to the middle of her chest.

The bottom of the dress was uneven, creating triangle-like shapes hanging down, almost touching just below her knees. Sakura pulled an arm, trying to make her stand straight, but eventually gave up. 

"You look so great Hinata, it really suits you. I'm sure Naruto-kun will love it." said Temari. Hinata turned crimson, and Sakura laughed at her embarrassment. 

"Don't worry, he'll love whatever you decide to wear. Although I have to say, this is by far the best one you've tried."

Hinata looked nervously at herself on a mirror opposite of her and asked, 

"Are you sure it's not too revealing?"

"It's fine, it's fine." reassured Temari "besides, there will be people dressed far sluttier than you.

Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Uh-huh, Temari's right. All those slutty whores think a formal event involves two things. Wearing almost nothing and hoping to get banged."

The girls giggled, receiving glares from the customers and sale clerks. Sakura stuck her tongue out at a sales assistant's back who was walking by, telling them to quiet down. The three burst out in uncontrollable laughter, Hinata shushing to no avail.

"C'mon, let's get outta here. I still haven't picked anything; neither has Sakura, and we can't find anything."

"Okay, let me just buy this dress." replied Hinata. She raced back itno the changing room and ran out with her desired dress hanging off her arm. The other two followed behind her to the counter, waiting for the clerk to finish up. 

Several minutes later they walked out of the store, Hinata being the only one with a dress in hand. They began walking down the long hall of stores on either side of them.

"Maybe we should've concentrated on buying dresses before all this stuff…" said Temari.

"Hah… maybe." said Sakura. She was soon distracted by a display.

"Fifty-percent shoe sale…." she muttered, "Let's go in!"

The other two sighed, one holding an arm, dragged Sakura across to a dress shop.

"But-bbut!" stuttered Sakura.

"Later! We'll go later!" said Temari. The pink-haired girl pouted.

"Fine."

They stepped in and immediately began searching. Temari had ended up wandering away from the other girls. She was starting to get sick of looking for a dress.

'_Maybe I should just wear a traditional kimono… I have tons of those…'_

But she already knew it would be out of place, and the option was hopeless. Just when she was about to call for assistance (aka Sakura and Hinata), she saw it.

The perfect dress. Possibly the one she had been looking endlessly for.

It was a soft metallic dark silver, strapless, with a bow on the side and a thick ribbon going around the mid drift. The bottom half was slightly ruffled, creating a flowing look, elongating her already long legs. Temari quickly looked for her size, grabbing it off the rack. She passed by Hinata and Sakura, quickly yelling, 

"I'm going to the change rooms!" behind her shoulder.

Temari immediately shoved herself into a room and carefully tried on the dress. It fit her well and comfortably, the bottom of the dress reaching just below her knees. 

"Let us see!" shouted Sakura.

Temari opened the door and stepped out. Hinata gasped in surprise and complimented, 

"Wow, you look great Temari-san!"

Sakura hugged her and added,

"You're going to make Kiba faint when he sees you!" 

She laughed and replied,

"Thanks. Have you found a dress yet?"

"I'm going to try on a few." 

She showed Temari the pile of dresses hanging on a chair behind her.

'…_. This is going to take a while…'_

"You can use my room if you want."

"Oh thanks, that'd be great." 

Temari shuffled back into the room, changed and headed to the counter with her dress in her hand, purse in the other.

"Sakura is going to take a really long time… I don't think I'll be able to handle it." She said as she walked by Hinata. She giggled in response and winked back.

Temari came back with another shopping bag to add to her mounting collection. She sat beside Hinata on the bench.

"How many has she tried on?"

"None, she was waiting for you."

Temari groaned and said,

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Hinata replied 

"Sakura-san, show us the dress; Temari-san is here."

Sakura emerged, wearing a turquoise dress, clashing horribly with her hair.

"What about this?"

"Maybe a different color would suit you." commented Temari.

"Maybe a dark purple would be better."

"Yeah, you're right. This dress looks horrible on me anyways."

Sakura went back in, and both let out a sigh of relief.

"Could you have imagined what would've happened if she came shopping by herself?" said Temari.

Hinata laughed, quietly replying,

"I think everybody would be blinded by the color clash."

They both laughed, but stopped abruptly, realizing what they had gotten into.

----

About a hundred dresses later, they were still in the store, sitting and waiting.

"Can't she just pick already?" hissed Temari.

"Shopping with Sakura-san is always like this." replied Hinata.

Temari rolled her eyes, cursing under her breath. She impatiently tapped her fingers on the side of the bench.

"The next time she comes out, no matter how hideous the dress looks, we're going to say it looks fabulous so we can finally leave this place." she growled. 

"She'll find something soon enough."

"Hurry up Sakura!" yelled Temari.

"Yeah, yeah I get it!" 

She walked out of the change room and smiled.

"Do you like it?"

Temari almost blurted out "Finally" but quickly stopped herself.

"It looks lovely." said Hinata.

"I agree with Hinata, it's the best yet."

'_It's over! Yes!'_ she cheered silently. No need for everybody else to hear.

Sakura looked at her reflection. Her pale skin looked almost whiter against the dark purple fabric. It was a very simple design; the dress went to her knees and split at her thighs on the side. It was help up by two thin straps and was completely backless. Sakura took one last look and turned back to her two companions.

"I think I found my dress!" she said. The other two jumped for joy (for obvious reasons) and ushered her back into the room to change.

----

Temari collapsed on the couch, shopping bags flying everywhere. She sat there for several minutes, massaging her aching feet.

'_I need to take an extra long bath…'_

She finally decided to shuffle to the bathroom, and slowly got up when the phone rang. Temari groaned and picked it up off its receiver. 

"Hello?" she replied.

"Temari-san, there's a letter for you down at the front desk."

"I'll be right down." 

She placed the phone back and made her way downstairs.

Temari walked up to the front desk and asked,

"Do you have a letter addressed to Temari?"

The woman behind the desk smiled and passed her a letter, replying,

"Here you go?"

"Thanks."

As soon as she received it, she ripped the envelope and slid out the letter. Temari had instantly recognized the lettering on the front. She carefully but as quick as she possibly could opened the folded piece of paper. Her eyes scanned over, reading:

_Temari,_

_I miss you; we haven't gone on a date in a while. I'm sorry, but the missions are non-stop lately. I'll see you at the ball okay? Until then, stay safe._

_-Kiba_

Temari smiled with delight as she finished reading the letter. Her fingers traced over the writing, imagining Kiba's intense face, trying to find the right words to place. There were many cross outs and rewrites on the page. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

'_What an idiot.'_

* * *

Okay so I won't be able to upload another chapter until I come back from my vacation, so until then, sit tight, cause it gets **more** exciting.

Thanks to everybody who has still stuck on with this story! Your support is super fantastic! It's what makes me want to write.

And sorry for the spelling mistakes in the last chapter! I can't believe I spelled "write" as "right" XD ! How silly.

Please Read and Review!


	15. The Coronation Ball

WOW! I updated!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! (Frankly I can't). Did you know I actually made a mind map (for plot ideas) on Moving On? (I was having a writer's block… More or less). Anyways, I haven't really written anything in a long time, so please bear any spelling errors or grammar errors or basically anything that sounds off.

**Please Read & Review!**

_**P.S: I don't own Naruto (this is what we call a disclaimer, for those of you who don't know)**_

* * *

Chapter 15

**The Coronation Ball**

"Sakura, what am I going to do with my hair?!" panicked Temari, while applying her mascara, trying not to poke her elbow at Hinata.

The three of them were crammed into the tiny bathroom, trying not to blind each other by clashing arms applying eye liner. Sakura had fancy hairpins in her mouth, and was frantically doing Hinata's hair.

"Jos hol on a munte I'm doing Hinaaz har." (Just hold on a minute I'm doing Hinata's hair)

"What did you say?"

Sakura continued to work on her hair, ignoring Temari's question completely. Temari sighed and reapplied her mascara.

"There! How do you like that?" said Sakura. Hinata blushed and replied,

"Thank you."

She quietly shuffled out of the bathroom, leaving a small amount of space for the other two to work in.

Sakura took a quick look in the mirror, slightly fixed her up-do with another squeeze of hairspray and began to run an expert hand through Temari's hair. She gently pulled off her elastics and brushed her hair.

"Do you mind if I curl your hair? It's kind of bland if it's straight down."

"That's fine. Do what you want." she replied, trying to look nonchalant as she could.

'_Just don't fry my hair like last time… Please…'_

Sakura pulled out her massive curling iron and plugged it in, waiting for it to heat up. She placed the back of her hand near the iron to test the heat, and began to twist Temari's hair.

An hour later the three girls were pampered and ready to go. Hinata looked at the clock and said,

"It's almost time for the ball to start. We should hurry or else..."

Sakura rolled her eyes and quickly answered,

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry! It takes five minutes to walk to the mansion."

They walked out of the house and began walking towards the Hokage's mansion. From a distance they could see bright torches lighting the way towards the entrance, leading the people in. The girls finally arrived at the front, greeting familiar faces. Temari looked around the perimeter, and in the corner of her eye she could see a head of black hair that she didn't particularly want to meet and greet.

"Let's go in." she said, trying not to sound hurried. She could see him coming closer towards her and the entrance. The other two nodded in agreement and struggled to follow Temari's hurried pace. If she could just avoid him tonight, she could survive.

"Temari-san!!" huffed Sakura, "slow down!!"

The blonde paused and turned, her hand lightly on top of the staircase railing. Hinata followed up just a little later than Sakura, coughing slightly as she stood beside her.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see if Kiba had arrived yet."

Sakura raised suspicious eyebrow, and began to ask,

"Temari, whats going o-"

"Hey guys!! How are you?! I haven't seen you three since the party!" cut Ten-Ten, totally oblivious to Sakura's death glare towards her, and incoherent swearing under her breath.

"I guess we've been busy." replied Temari.

"That's true. I can't believe Naruto is Hokage!! I mean, I knew it was going to happen, but it's so soon."

"It's just a safety precaution for the village." added Sakura, a menacing undertone slipping through her voice.

Temari tried to suppress her laughter as much as possible; the pink haired girl was too funny when she was angry, and Ten-Ten didn't even notice at all! Sakura glanced at the blonde, who immediately composed a sober and blank expression on her face. She rolled her eyes and, once again, began to glare at Ten-Ten, who was still talking, not noticing a thing.

"I know, but…" she dropped her voice to a whisper, "what if an enemy finds out and takes both Hokages out? That'd be **real **trouble."

"I'm pretty sure nothing like that will happen; Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama are both capable and very strong." quietly replied Hinata.

Temari slowly wandered away from the conversation, sighing in relief.

'_Ten-Ten possibly just saved my life back there… I could Sakura raising her hackles on me…'_

She kept wandering around the area, looking for a familiar head of brown hair. She couldn't find a recognizable face amongst the crowd, and decided to join Hinata and Sakura. Temari turned on her heel and began to make her way downstairs, when somebody accidently bumped into her, causing her to fly into the railing.

"Will you watch where you're going!? I could've **died** right then and there!!" she snapped, grabbing the metal railing as a life support.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

The man in front of her abruptly stopped talking and quickly said,

"Temari?"

"Yeah, what's it to y-"

She looked up at his face with recognition and shock.

"Kankuro?" she cried out with surprise, "what are you doing here?"

Her brother laughed, causing her to become even more aggravated.

"What? What is it? Answer me!!"

She gently grabbed his shoulders, trying to shake the answers out of him. He placed a hand over hers and replied,

"I'm here to see Naruto become Hokage, dummy!"

He flicked her forehead, smirking. Temari lightly smacked him on the arm, snapping,

"Hey! I'm you're older sister! You shouldn't abuse me like this! I have seniority!"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. They smiled at each other, and she linked arms with him.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"I guess so." she shrugged.

The siblings walked down the grand staircase, arm in arm. Many looked up at them with curious expressions and 'certain' others stared with displeasure written all over their faces. Temari ignored the stares and asked,

"Where's Garaa?"

"He's somewhere in here…"

She snorted and sarcastically retorted,

"You're a great help."

He brushed off her insult and said,

"I lost track of him. He's doing a speech later on, so you'll see him soon enough."

They walked towards an empty table up close to the stage and sat side by side, facing away from the stage.

"Isn't it kind of stupid to place the band in front of the podium?" said Kankuro. She glanced at the string ensemble and nodded.

"Well, it's the only place for them; there isn't exactly room anywhere else."

She took a sip of water as she silently looked for Garaa and Kiba.

"So, how's the village? Hiding any new girlfriends from me? The ladies here will be so upset! I saw a few of them with disappointed looks when I was walking around with you." she teased.

"Oh ha-ha sis, very funny." he sarcastically replied, "For your information, I'm not seeing anyone. You, on the other hand… I mean seriously, Kiba? I'm surprised at your choice."

She blushed crimson and hissed,

"What?! How do you know? I demand that you tell me **now**!!"

He laughed at her embarrassment and replied,

"Just the old rumor mill… and the fact I was on a group mission with him during the week."

She slid down her seat, turning impossibly more red then before.

"Does Garaa know?"

"He sure does!" Kankuro said happily.

"Man… who doesn't know?!" she covered her face with her hands, groaning. He smirked evilly and said,

"Almost everybody in the Sand knows… Rai-kun was pretty disappointed."

"Oh shut up!" she made a swipe for his head but missed.

"The poor dude's upset you choose Kiba over him." he winked.

She glared at him and replied,

"Whatever! I could never think of Rai like that!"

He chuckled and said,

"That's what you said 'pre-operation Shikamaru and Temari get together'."

Temari slightly winced at the sound of his name. Luckily, her brother was looking the other way for a brief moment.

"Well, this time I mean it!!" she said, trying to sound normal.

Kankuro smiled and replied,

"Good. Kiba's a good guy. I like him a lot better than your lazy ex."

Temari gaped at his maturity; she had begun to think that Kankuro was going to be an immature brat for life… but instead, he was supporting her? Has the world gone mad?!

"Thanks Kankuro. You know, sometimes you can really be sweet."

He blushed pink and replied,

"Aw, don't get all lovey-dovey sibling-y on me!!"

Temari smirked and extended her arms towards her brother.

"Who wants a hug? I think you do, yes you do!" she said in her most cutesy baby voice. Kankuro's eyes widened as she began closing in on him

"Sis, don't do this here! Stop it! ACK!"

"C'mon, you used to love it when I hugged you when we were younger!!"

"Yeah, when we were younger! The keyword here is **younger**, not **now**!!"

Her arms squeezed harder around him.

"Gack! I hate you so much!" he choked out. She smiled at his pain and replied,

"Love you too lil bro."

"If you're done harassing Kankuro," said a quiet voice behind the siblings, "I suggest you two quiet down. You're making a racket, and you're **both **embarrassing me."

Temari froze and turned her head at the familiar voice. A broad smile appeared on her face and she leapt up out of her seat yelling,

"Garaa!!"

He had a half-smile on, a unrecognizable pink tinge appearing between his cheeks as she hugged him.

"Can you please let me go?"

She disengaged herself from him and sat back on her seat. Garaa also took a seat beside Kankuro. A quiet "Thank you" was exchanged between the two brothers, not unnoticed by Temari.

"What are you two whispering about?" she asked.

"Oh nothing." said Kankuro. Temari narrowed her eyes.

"Sure it is."

"He thanked me for saving him from your life squeezing hugs." said Garaa.

"… You're not supposed to say that!" groaned Kankuro. He threw his head back and sighed with mocking frustration. Garaa cocked his head, a confused look slowly appearing on his face.

She laughed at her brothers' reactions; they were so different yet they got along so perfectly.

"Why didn't you guys tell me you were coming?" she questioned.

"We wanted to surprise you." said Kankuro. She sighed and replied,

"I missed you two. I miss home… I want to go back to Suna."

Garaa shook his head and replied,

"You can't. You're now the liaison between Konoha and Suna."

"W-what??" exclaimed Temari "I thought I was just supposed to do reports and stuff like that! Garaa, I don't want to be stuck here permanently!!"

"I'm sorry, but the council decided to appoint you this job, and I couldn't go against them."

"But you're the Kazekage! You're supposed to use your power for situations like this!" she hissed in annoyance.

"I realize that but there's only so much I can do."

She crossed her arms and said,

"Shouldn't I get a say in this too? How could those stupid old people just decide all this without considering my opinion?!"

Garaa looked at Kankuro with desperation, but he shrugged and mouthed,

"Don't look at me."

"Look, for now, it's not permanent, but please Temari, just bear with it. You have a boyfriend here, and you've settled down, more or less. In the meantime, I'll try to find a replacement and work things out with the council. So please…"

She rolled her eyes and replied,

"Whatever."

Garaa, once again, silently pleaded to Kankuro to do something.

"You know, he has a point. I mean, if you were to be deported, you'd have to break up with Kiba." said Kankuro.

"I know that, but I miss the village. Konoha's nice, but there isn't really anything holding me here."

"Sis… didn't I just say Kiba? **Hello**? He's your **boyfriend**?"

"I do like him a lot, but just not enough when compared to going home."

The three remained silent, not knowing what to say. An awkward moment arose; but Kankuro bravely broke the ice.

"Well, whatever! Let's just enjoy the time we have together!"

She slowly smiled and added,

"You're right! How long are you two staying for?"

"About three or four days. I'm leaving earlier than Kankuro; I can't leave the village too exposed without me for too long." said Garaa. Temari felt a familiar presence behind her chair.

"Can we sit with you guys?" asked Sakura. Temari turned around in her seat to see Hinata, Neji, Lee, Ten-Ten and Kiba beside Sakura, waiting for an answer.

"Of course." she replied, waving at them to take a seat. Kiba took the seat beside her right, grinning widely. He lightly kissed her on the cheek, making her flush. Kankuro raised an eyebrow and lightly nudged Garaa with an evil smirk.

"Sorry about tonight. I should've escorted you here." he whispered in her ear.

"It's okay; I was having a fun time with the girls."

"Yo Kiba!" said Kankuro, "You better watch out for competition. My sister is usually the target for dances."

"Shut up! That's not true at all."

She glared at her brother, who innocently smiled back at her.

"It's so true! You used to hide out in the washroom to avoid all the men back home." sneakily replied Garaa.

The brother high-fived each other while she turned bright cheery red. The others at the table laughed.

"I can't believe you guys are related to me! You two annoy me too much."

"Aw sissy, we love you too." laughed Kankuro.

"You and your siblings seem to get along very well Temari-san." said Hinata.

"Us? No way!" she said.

"Yeah, she's right, we fight and tease too much to get along." replied Kankuro. Garaa nodded, agreeing with his older siblings.

"I don't mind you being desired, but they all better know you're mine." said Kiba, in an undertone for Temari to hear.

Guilt seemed to bubble up in Temari again, who tried to suppress it and failed miserably.

'_I have to tell him!'_ she thought. But the back of her head nagged,

'_No, not yet!!'_

A waiter appeared out of nowhere and began to whisper in Garaa's ears. He excused himself from the table and followed after him. Puzzled, Temari asked,

"Where's he going?" to Kankuro.

"The speeches are starting in a few minutes."

She could no longer hear the ensemble playing music, and the voices in the room began to die down. Everybody's attention was to the front. Temari looked head, watching the Hokage step up to the microphone. Her elegant dress floated as she stepped up the stairs towards the podium. She had never seen the Hokage so formally dressed; it surprised her greatly.

"Hello everyone."

The giant ballroom rang with her voice, bouncing off the walls.

"Tonight we are here to celebrate our village's sixth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. Many of you here know that he's one noisy, irrational and crazy kid. But we also know that besides those traits, he has an exceptional talent of being a leader, never giving up, and honors the bonds he makes with others. He's one unusual and random kid, but he's grown up to the mature man that I now know. I hope all of you here accept Naruto as your future leader. Please give a warm welcome to him as our next Hokage!"

A loud applause thundered in the room as Naruto came out from the side. His tuxedo and the traditional Hokage-bearing hat clashed horribly with each other.

"I told him not to wear that thing!" muttered Sakura.

He stepped up to the mic, and yelled,

"Hello? Hello?!"

Everybody covered their ears as the speakers blared out his voice and the high pitched feedback noise.

"Naruto, don't yell in the microphone!!" yelled Tsunade from the side of the stage.

"Sorry." he said in his normal voice. Everybody relaxed and pried off their hands from their ears.

"I can't believe this is happening to me. Being Hokage was a dream I've had since I was little because I wanted people to acknowledge me. But I've realized that it's not the only reason why. I want to protect the village I grew up in. In Konoha, my worst and also my best memories were made here. Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, thank you so much for being one of the first people I had created my bonds with. I'd also like to thank Sasuke, because he was… my brother. My rival and my true brother. Without him, I don't know where I'd be. For everyone in here, please accept me as your future Hokage."

Naruto stepped away from the mic and bowed towards the audience. Another loud applause was followed after. Sakura was silently crying in her seat, with Lee rubbing her back, consoling her.

The Hokage once again stepped up and said,

"Please give a warm welcome to Konoha's ally, the leader of Suna, the Kazekage!"

Another round of clapping was heard as Garaa walked across the stage.

"I am happy to say that Naruto will be a great Hokage for Konoha. The Sand is proud and thankful to have such a friend as an ally. Naruto helped me, and was one of my first friends who really understood me. It was not only because he was the Kyuubi, but because he understood what loneliness was and conquered it. He pulled me out from being consumed by it. So thank you Naruto, and congratulations on becoming Hokage. I hope many happy years between our villages will come."

Once again, there was a huge round of applause. The Hokage took the mic from Garaa and said,

"It is now time for food and dancing!"

A loud cheer was heard from the crowds of people as waiters came out with plates of food and bottles of champagne.

Garaa, along with Naruto both sat at the same table as the others.

"Both your speeches were great!" complimented Sakura, eyes red from crying.

"Sakura-chan, were you crying?" he asked.

"Don't worry, they're just happy tears." she replied. A waiter brought the occupied table a round of food for everyone.

"Oh great! I'm so hungry!" said Naruto.

Temari was about to dig in but she saw Ino and Shikamaru coming towards them. Shikamaru lightly tapped the blond male, who was devouring food by the mouthful.

"Mmph?"

"Congratulations Naruto." The couple said. Temari's eyes were on Ino's arms completely wrapped around Shikamaru's arm. Naruto quickly swallowed his food and replied,

"Thanks!"

She looked at him briefly, making eye contact, and turned her head, striking up a conversation with Kiba. She deliberately entwined her fingers with him on the table. Shikamaru looked away and walked back to his table with Ino. Kankuro had an expression of concern.

What was going on with his sister?

--

After everybody finished eating and the plates were taken away, people began to dance. Before Temari knew it, Hinata and Naruto, Sakura and Lee, Kankuro and some random girl were all dancing. Several had asked for a dance, but Kiba growled at all of them, sending the lot away.

"Will you dance with me?" said Garaa, extending an open hand. She glanced at Kiba, who was busy talking to Neji, and took his head. He guided her to the floor and placed a hand on her waist. She placed one hand on her brother's shoulder, and together they began to dance.

"Garaa, you should really find yourself a girlfriend." she teased. He lightly shrugged and replied,

"Don't know, don't care."

She smirked. Garaa was not going to slip away so quickly.

"I'm sure Sakura-san wouldn't mind."

Garaa surprisingly blushed and said,

"And what do you mean by that?"

She innocently replied,

"You tend to stare at her a lot."

"Who wouldn't? Her hair is this ridiculous pink color that you can't miss even if you tried. It just attracts your eyes because of its oddity."

Temari raised an eyebrow and replied,

"You like her don't you?"

"I do **not**!" he exclaimed. She smiled and replied,

"Sure, sure, whatever you say."

"Hmph."

She laughed and kept dancing, along with talking at the same time. Talking to Garaa relaxed her, rewinding herself back home.

A light tap was felt on her shoulder, causing to let go of him.

"Sorry Garaa, but do you mind if I borrow your partner for a moment?"

"Go right ahead."

Temari froze, knowing in her gut the person who spoke was Shikamaru.

She coldly glared at him, hissing,

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Is it wrong for a man to dance with a woman?" he smirked, extending a hand. She slapped it away and replied,

"Okay, seriously, what do you want?"

His face immediately turned hard and serious.

"I need to talk to you."

She looked around to see if anyone in particular was watching them.

"Now's really not a good time."

He grabbed her wrist and began to walk towards an empty balcony.

"Let me go Nara!"

"No."

"I said, let me go!"

"No." he repeated.

He dragged her to the balcony and shut the glass doors behind him.

"What do you freaking want?!"

"You."

Her eyes narrowed, if that was even possible, and she curled her hand into a fist

"Say that again and I swear I'll punch a hole in your face."

Shikamaru smirked and said,

"I want you…"

Her arm winded up, reading to hit him-

"…to forgive me."

_Thump thump._

Temari dropped her arm, feeling her heart pound faster and harder.

"Look Temari…" he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away.

"I never really apologized about anything to you. I'm sorry that I hurt you that time when it snowed; I'm sorry about what happened at the dango shop, but most of all… I'm sorry that I broke your heart."

He got down on his knees, looking up towards her.

"I'm sorry Temari. Forgive me?"

He took out a squashed tulip from his back pocket and held it up to her. It was wilted and almost couldn't stand up on its own, but to Temari, it was perfect.

"Forgive me." he whispered.

Tears began rolling down her eyes and she gently took the tulip from his hands. Temari began to cry harder, her shoulders trembling, and her knees almost at the point of giving out. Shikamaru stood up, his shaking hands grasping her shoulders. She threw herself at him, arms wrapping around his waist. He took her into his body, relishing at the warmth.

"I forgive you." she said, muffled with sobs, her face on his chest. Temari slowly cast her eyes up, her head moving along with her. She saw Shikamaru's black eyes staring down at her. Before her mind analyzed anything at all, she raised herself up towards him.

Her lips met his cold ones.

She could feel his lips curving into a small smile, pulling her closer towards him.

They finally parted, slowly breathing, taking in the situation.

"Oops." she said.

"You got that right." he replied.

"We shouldn't be seen like this." he said, "we'll sort it out after tonight."

"You're right."

Temari painstakingly pulled herself away and wiped her tears, smudging her make-up.

"Stupid waterproof stuff never works after all." she muttered. He laughed gently and paused to stroke her cheek before walking back into the room.

'_A quick trip to the washroom might be a good idea.' _she thought.

She quickly made her way through the crowd, constantly looking back to see if anyone was watching the balcony. She pushed herself through the door into the Ladies room.

Temari quickly pulled out the complimentary face tissues by the sink and began to run them under water. She began to wipe her streaks with the wet round tissue as carefully as possible.

"My, my, Temari-san, you seem to be in such a hurry." sang a high voice. She jumped and looked at who had spoken.

"You scared me!"

Ino laughed and walked beside her, checking her long ponytail was perfectly in place. Temari continued to wipe herself until Ino said,

"I never really got to thank you for taking care of Shika."

"Oh, it was no problem, really."

Ino smiled and said,

"You two have been becoming quite close, haven't you?"

Temari paused and glanced at her. Something about her voice seemed to change the light friendly atmosphere in the room.

"I'd be careful if I were you; Kiba would get very jealous and angry." she said in an acidic tone.

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked.

Ino smirked and replied,

"Don't play dumb with me Temari-san, I know all about the adventure the two of you had while I was away."

Temari backed away from the mirror and looked at Ino.

"I still don't understand what you're talk-"

Ino slammed her hands on the counter and hissed,

"I said; don't play dumb with me you whore!"

Temari's anger began to boil up and snapped,

"You don't have any right to call me a whore!"

"I wouldn't be so sure, I have enough evidence to show around. Would you like to see?" she replied.

Without waiting for an answer she took out photos from her purse and began to flick through them.

"The graveyard, the snowball fight… yup, yup… oh! Wait till Kiba sees this, he'll be so upset!"

Ino turned the picture over and Temari gasped. It depicted Temari kissing Shikamaru in the snow.

"Why are you doing this?!"

She frowned and placed the pictures back into her purse.

"I've tolerated you long enough… and now it's time for me to claim him forever."

"How did you get those pictures??"

She walked closer to Temari and smiled.

"When I was away, I hired a P.I to watch your every move… I even have pictures when Shika saw you naked. Wait till Kiba sees **that**!!"

'_I knew it! Somebody was watching us!' _she thought in triumph.

But now was hardly the time for celebrating.

"Look, here's the deal; if you stay with Kiba, I won't show him the photos."

"What makes you think I'm with Shikamaru now?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, bitch, that I know what's going on? I saw you two on the balcony. Don't make me ask you to stop playing dumb again."

"This is stupid, I'm leavin-"

"We're not done!" screeched Ino, locking the washroom door.

"If you don't stay with Kiba, I'm going to kill Shika."

"What?! Are you insane?!"

"It's either Kiba or nothing. He lives or he dies. I'm pretty sure you know what's preferable."

"You're crazy. You're seriously insane."

"Just keep your promise, and I won't send these or kill him. Got it?"

Ino extended a hand.

Temari bit her lip and roughly shook it, immediately letting go of her cold hands.

"Deal."

She laughed and said,

"Nice doing business with you. Remember this is between **us**. No one else."

Ino began to walk away, but paused, turned and took the wilted tulip from Temari's hand. She ripped it apart and threw it to the ground, crushing it with her heel.

"It's over between Shika and you."

Ino smirked and walked out, leaving Temari all alone.

She felt anger bubbling up inside, but forced herself to calm down. She recomposed herself, checking her face in the mirror and walked out of the washroom.

After resolving everything…another giant road block was in her way.

And this time, she didn't know if she could overcome it.

--

Temari began to wander around, looking for a familiar face. Without watching where she was going in front of her (rather, she was looking over heads), she crashed into a body.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" she said, lending out a helping hand, without looking closely at the face.

The person slapped away her hand and got up.

"How could you?"

She looked at the person properly and swallowed her gasp.

Kiba looked at her like a stranger, an unknown. She could see the rejection, the pain and the distrust in his eyes.

"Kiba, I don't understa-"

She walked closer towards him, but he stepped back, raising his palm out in front of him, preventing her from coming closer.

"Don't come near me."

Hurt, Temari asked,

"What is it? Wha-"

"Just stop it already. Stop pretending. Just **stop**."

Kiba gave her one final look and began to walk away, his back facing towards her.

For an instant, she glimpsed a small, red, velvet box poking out of his dress pants, but it was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Wait Kiba, don't go, just hold on a min-"

She began to chase after him, but bodies began to come in between them. Temari could barely make out his head from the crowds of people. She extended her arm, trying to stop him somehow, but there were too many obstacles.

Temari kept pushing and shoving her way through the crowd. She was gaining ground, the space between the two becoming smaller and smaller. She almost brushed the tip of his fingers with her hand, but then-

**It went black.**

* * *

I think this is the longest I have ever written. Holy smokes! **27, 297** words.

Hope this chapter was okay. There was lots of action going on; maybe so much you missed some parts. So I shall give you a condensed summary of this chapter.

Temari meets siblings. They talk. Boring speeches by Garaa, Naruto and Tsunade. They eat. They dance. Temari and Shikamaru go out to talk. They kiss. Oops.Temari goes to the washroom. Meets Ino. Temari can't see Shikamaru again. He could die, Kiba could find out. She bumps into Kiba. He mad/sad. Temari confused. Then **Black**.

Next update won't be for a while (I can guarantee that). Toodles!

(REVIEW PLEASE/ おながいします/ ONAGAISHIMASU!)


	16. The Hoax Part I

げぶんがわるいんです。(Translation: I don't feel that great)

Well, I'm uploading this because I just finished studying for my exams. I'm taking a break… I'm quite stressed about my finals… it's like a bomb ticking in my head, waiting to go off sometime soon.

Anyways, hope you're all surviving better than I am.

(Disclaimer crap goes here)

* * *

Chapter 16

**The Hoax**

**(Part I)**

Terrified screams burst from the ballroom as the darkness instantaneously swept in. Temari's eyes reacted to the night, immediately adjusting to the lack of light. The room was not consumed in night however; the long windows along the walls cascaded the moonlight. But the area was in utter chaos and disorientation. Civilians were running and screaming, crashing into various objects and other people.

Temari swiftly took out a kunai from under her dress. She quickly darted through the hording crowds of people, looking for someone who could explain the messy situation. From a distance, she could see Garaa talking to the Hokage near the stage. Temari began to run towards them, until suddenly, the lights went back on. The noise in the room halted; people were looking at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry about the incovience," said Tsunade, clutching the microphone "it was just a malfunction, not an attack. However…"

She paused, looking at Garaa, who simply nodded in return. She turned back to the crowd and continued,

"…it has been decided that the Coronation will now come to an end. Please return to your homes as safely and quickly as possible. All chunin and jounin, please meet me in the meeting room upstairs _immediately_. That will be all."

Temari felt her arm being pulled, snapping her out of a trance. She instinctively threw back her other hand, ready to smack the living daylights out of-

"Whoa! Stop it! It's just me." said Kankuro.

Temari lowered her arm and breathed out of relief.

"You know, you really scared me for a moment there." she said.

He threw his head back and laughed. She playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Oh shut up, you'd be scared if I did that to you."

"Yeah, whatever!" he replied. The pair quickened their pace, not wanting to get stuck in traffic.

"Tsunade-sama lied back there, didn't she?" whispered Temari.

"I don't know." He bluntly replied, giving her a _'Not Now!'_ expression on his face.

They took a left at the T junction, breaking away from the others heading outdoors. Comfortable ambience filled the area as the siblings went up another flight of stairs and into the meeting room. The giant space was already half full, but the chatter was up full volume. Many had worried looks on their faces, discussing what was going on, and a few others had solemn expressions on their faces. Among the sea of ninjas, she could see Naruto fervently talking to Garaa. It looked like he was trying to get the red head to explain the situation. Temari heard the door open behind her, and silence was followed. It could only mean one thing.

'_She's here.'_

She turned to see Tsunade, Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba standing in front of the closed door. She fixed her gaze at Kiba, who had an angry look on his face. He was biting his lip, his fists tightening and loosening, back and forth. He caught her gaze, and quickly turned his head away with contempt.

Disappointed, she looked towards the Hokage, but it was Shikamaru who spoke first.

"The four of us went downstairs to check for damage in the mansion, but the only thing we found was some misplaced documents. It's troublesome 'cause the papers that were misplaced is the data of all the ANBU currently residing and working under Konoha. This doesn't look like a group of rebels from a different village; this is an inside job. The 'geniuses' copied the documents but didn't clean up their mess."

_'Real stealthy.'_ thought Temari.

"Idiots." muttered Kiba.

It was not unnoticed. A few snickers rippled through the room. Tsunade shot the brunette a disapproving look, and began talking.

"Anyone who finds out information about this, please inform me or Shizune right away. Keep this issue to yourselves; we don't want to create a disturbance with the civilians. All the jounin and Suna representatives, do not leave just yet. Naruto, Sakura, and the three of you, who were with me, please remain here. The rest of you, dismissed!"

"Yes ma'am!" they yelled, as they quickly left the room. Temari raised an eyebrow at Kankuro, but he just shrugged and frowned back.

"Shut the doors Neji."

He turned around to do so.

The Hokage walked up to the front of the rom and shut all the windows. She glanced over the room, making sure all openings were shut, and resumed talking.

"I need all of you to be on extra alert at all times. Something strange is going on… the intruder purposely left the documents exposed for us to see…" she started to bit her thumb nail, chewing vigorously.

"…and I have a suspicion as to who planned this."

"You don't think it could be… Orochimaru?" asked Kakashi, stepping out from the shadows of a wall corner.

"There's no way sensei," replied Sakura "I examined the body with several others, and he couldn't have come back to life."

"What about Sasuke?" he enquired once again. Naruto looked at the silver-haired man with utter confusion.

"But he's dead!"

Naruto looked at Kakashi, who was looking downwards, pondering. Frustrated, he moved his eyes towards Sakura, who refused to look at him and looked the other way.

"Actually Naruto… he was presumed dead due to the mass pile of dead bodies, but we couldn't find Sasuke's."

Shocked, the blond grabbed onto her shoulders, trmbling as he asked,

"…is Orochimaru in Sasuke's body?"

She continued to look away, not responding.

"**Is he?**" he shouted, desperation cracking his voice. Tears began to roll down her pale cheeks, rolling off her chin, hitting the wood floor. A hand was placed on Naruto's shoulder, gently pulling him away from Sakura.

"It's a possibility." Replied Kakshi. The blond looked down, repressing the sadness and rage boiling within him.

"We were lied to this entire time…?" he muttered. Underlining tones of anger were laced in his voice.

"Naruto." said Tsunade, "we don't' have evidence for any of this. The person I was thinking about isn't either of them. We need to discuss the important issue at once. I think it-"

"So Sasuke's not important" he interrupted, shaking with silent rage.

"Naruto. Calm yourself." said Garaa. The blond looked up, disbelief written all over his agonized face.

"The village comes first. That is your role as Hokage." he said.

Naruto's shoulders relaxed, his fists slowly uncurling, and the color draining from his flushed cheeks.

"You're right." replied Naruto. Kakashi gave him a nod of approval and patted him on the back.

"I think it's Danzou."

There was no surprise or shock emitted in the room. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said,

"What's wrong with you people?! I expected some kind of a reaction."

"Tsunade-sama, don't you think Danzou would have chosen people that would do the job flawlessly? He has many to select from. Why would he do something like this? He already controls 

a partial amount of ANBU anyways, so why would he do it?" asked Shikamaru.

""He can make a deal with other villages or rebel groups using the documents and attack the village." Answered Neji.

"Surely this Danzou guy wouldn't harm his own village!" Kankuro exclaimed.

"He'll do anything to get his hands on Konoha." Shortly said Tsunade. She slammed her fist against the wall, creating a large dent into it.

"Damn geezer, what the hell is he planning?" she muttered under her breath.

"Tsunade-sama…" said Sakura, a nervous look appreaing on her face.

"What if Orochimaru is controlling Sasuke's body and Danzou is planning to make a deal with him?"

The current Hokage turned to the windows, once again bitting on her thumb nail.

"It's a possibility," she said after a long pause, "but doubtful."

She sighed and looked out the windows.

"Enough of this. Sakura and Naruto, you're on guard duty tonight."

Naruto instantly turned his head.

"But Tsunade-obaa-san…. You already have guards around the mansion grounds. Besides, why do I have to do it tonight?!" whinned Naruto. Sakura shot him a look with narrowed eyes and replied,

"Oh stop complaining Naruto! We'll do it Tsunade-sama."

"But Sakura-chan, I don-"

She dragged the blond by the ear across the room with an innocent smile on her face.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, you're pulling really hard, it hurts please sto-"

She pulled his ear higher, making Naruto cry louder.

"I'm sorry about the inconvenience everyone." said Sakura, as she exited the room with a body sliding behind her.

"…well then…." Said Tsunade, "Temari and Shikamaru, you don't' mind doing the duty tomorrow night, do you?"

Temari's body seized up as she heard her and Shikamaru's name called out. She could feel Kiba's stare burning a hole in her back.

"Sure." Shikamaru shrugged. He turned to look at her, waiting for her decision. She froze; indecisive and confused; no words came out of her mouth.

Garaa stepped forwards and said,

"I can do it. Temari needs some rest anyways."

With shocked eyes and ears, she stared at her brother who also stared back. She could read '_what are you doing?' _in his eyes.

"No Garaa, it's okay. I'll do it, Tsunade-sama."

"Garaa, your sister says she'll do the job, so you can relax. Anyways, I'll post a-"

"If you will Tsunade-sama, but do you mind if I join my sister and Shikamaru-san?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Just out of curiousity; I'm hoping I'll see the culprit."

She shrugged and replied,

"Do want you want."

Temari sighed a breath of relief. If her brother came along, nothing would happen. But she couldn't completely ignore the prick disappointment in her heart.

'_It's like a mission, I can't get distracted!'_

'_**Yeah, but you were hoping he didn't say anything…**_' said a tiny voice in the back of her head. She shook her head, dispelling her thoughts.

"As I was saying, there'll be a posting on the bulletin board about guard duty soon enough. You're all dismissed."

Temari saw her brothers beside her, and the three of them began walking back to the hotel.

"I think Garaa just saved your slow ass back there." Said Kankuro.

"Thanks." She said.

"What was that all about?" asked Garaa.

"Nothing. I was distracted by my thoughts." she lied. The two males both rolled their eyes and said,

"Sure."

"We know it's because she said the pineapple's name." said Kankuro.

She flushed pink and quickly replied,

"No!!" _'Oops, too fast.'_

"Liar!" grinned Kankuro, "you always reply like that every time we're right."

"Okay, okay fine. You caught me there. So what?"

"It's not good to harbor old feelings." said Garaa.

Temari turned crimson, and replied,

"I'm not harboring any kind of feelings!"

"Sis, you're so red." laughed Kankuro, "so why don't' you tell us the truth?"

"I don't see why that's any of your business. Say what you will, but you know I'm right."

He frowned and said,

"You're no fun!"

"Oh boo hoo. Get over it." She sarcastically retorted.

"It doesn't matter. We both know anyways." said Garaa. Kankuro high fived his brother behind Temari's back.

"Whatever." she replied.

They were becoming closer within the vicinity of the hotel.

Temari paused briefly, and asked,

"What room are you two staying in?"

"…"

They both looked at her with blank expressions on their faces.

"You didn't…check in?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well….see… we were running late…so… we asked the counter guy if we could...well, stay in your room."

A vein pulsed in Temari's forehead.

"You did **WHAT**?" she screeched. Kankuro cringed and desperately replied,

"There was nothing else we could've done!"

"Hey, don't involve me into this. That was **your** job." said Garaa.

"Yeah, yeah, the point is-"

"The point is, you could've told me" said Temari.

"Sorry." He shortly apologized, with a shrug of his shoulders. She sighed.

"It's okay, it doesn't really matter…just tell me next time."

Kankuro hugged his sister, replying,

"You're the bestest best sister ever!!"

Garaa shot his brother a look of annoyance and said,

"Can you **please** stop? You're embarrassing me, **again**."

Temari smiled and laughed.

Some things never change.

--

Temari fluffed up the last pillow and carefull placed it back onto the head of the couch. There was just enough room in the suite to accommodate two extras. Garaa and Kankuro pleaded to sleep on the floor, but she insisted on letting the two sleep comfortably on the queen bed. She heard light footsteps behind her, and turned to see who it was.

"Hey." She said to Kankuro, as he was getting a drink of water.

"Yo." He replied back. She also entered the kitchen, filing the kettle with tap water. Kankuro looked around the area briefly, and making sure there was no one else in the room, he lowly whispered,

"It was a hoax."

"What? I didn't hear you at all. Stop whispering, I can't hear a word of what you're saying."

He checked behind his shoulder frequently before replying. Temari raised an eyebrow and asked,

"What are you doing?"

"…"

He ignored her and proceeded towards the bathroom. He placed an ear on the door and was listening intently. She followed him out of annoyance and grabbed his shoulder.

"What the heck are you doing?!"

Kankuro didn't reply. He waited until he could finally hear the water running. He turned to look at 

his sister and smiled.

"I was waiting for Garaa to start the shower."

A confused look formed on her face.

"Why?"

"Cause I didn't want him to overhear our conversation."

He walked away from the door and sat on the armrest of the couch.

Temari followed and sat on the couch.

"And what do you want to talk about that you didn't want him to over hear?" she asked.

"You know that whole thing about the stolen ANBU files?" he whispered.

"Yeah? And?"

"…it's a hoax. It's a cover up story."

"And what exactly would this 'hoax' cover up?"

Kankuro smirked and replied,

"Garaa's surprise birthday party."

Temari's eyes widened. _'Brilliant'_ she thought.

"So, basically, you want me and Shikamaru to lead him to the party without making him suspicious?"

"Yup. That's the plan."

"You realize that's a little harder than said… you know Garaa picks up on things **really** easily."

"Yeah; that's why we chose the best of the best to do it."

She swallowed down a laugh and replied,

"Me and Shikamaru? We're the best of the best? You're kidding, right?"

"Hey, it's better than Naruto and Kiba doing it."

A tremor went through her body. She ever so slightly jumped up.

"Oh, oops. Sorry."

"It…it doesn't matter. I guses you're right. It's better than having Naruto and (gulp) Kiba doing the job."

Kankuro smiled, but it was small and knowing.

"You need to come up with better ways of changing the subject sis."

"…"

She didn't reply. _'Damn it'_ she thought.

"Did something happen at the party with you and Kiba? He looked really pissed."

Temari took a deep breath and replied,

"Let's just say it's pretty much over between us."

Kankuro's eyes never wavered from her face. He didn't pause to watch Garaa coming out of the bathroom.

"Why?"

She broke apart from his gaze and looked down.

"I did something I shouldn't have…but I couldn't help it."

Kankuro stood up and lightly patted her shoulder as he passed by.

"I'm sure you can fix whatever you did. Don't worry, he can't hate you forever. Night sis."

She sighed.

'_It's not that easy to do after you break their heart.'_

* * *

Finally! I'm finished this chapter! (Hooray!! Hoorah!)

Now you all understand why this chapter is called "The Hoax".

Hope the length was okay.

**レヴーをおながいします。(Please Review)  
ありがと！　(Thanks!)  
**


	17. The Hoax Part II Confrontations

Finally! The long awaited chapter!! I have definately been on hiatus for a very long time! I love exclaimation marks!  
I hope it was long enough, because it sure was painful for my neck after _

Enjoy!!~~ ! I hope my writing is alright from not writing in a long time.

Oh, and did I happen to mention I rewrote this chapter about three times?

* * *

Chapter 17  
**The Hoax Part II  
(Confrontations)**

"_Dad… enough already!! You're hurting him!! Stop it!" she screamed, pushing her brother away from her father. Temari could see the crazed look he always had when he drank too much. Behind her she could feel Garaa shivering and his heavy breathing from the branded welts on his arm. _

"_He's a monster!!" roared the drunken man. He tried to make a lunge for the broken child but faltered and crashed into the wall. _

"_Dad please…stop this." She pleaded. Her father looked at her with anger and madness._

"_Why do you protect that monster?! He's worthless! Get out my way!" he yelled, breaking a nearby lamp. The shards flew and sank deep into her arm, a river of warm crimson trickling down her arm. _

"_Nee-san.." whimpered Garaa. _

"_It's okay… we're going to be alright…"_

_Her father charged towards her, grabbing Temari away from her brother. She winced at her father's tight grasp on her wrist. _

"Dad, that hurts!"

_He ignored her, and with his open hand he picked up a beer bottle cap, spinning it in the air. The pressure on her wrist increased, visible bruises lowly beginning to surface. _

"_Leave her alone!" yelled Garaa. He shoved his father repeatedly to no avail. _

"_Stop it Garaa! Just go, get out of here!" she screamed._

_Her father wordlessly grasped the cap and caressed it across her unwounded arm. He laughed and said,_

"_My_ **s**_**on**… this is what happens when other people protect you because you're weak." _

He dug the cap into her skin, causing more blood to seep onto the carpet. Temari tried to pull back, causing the cap to cut along the length of her arm.

"_Do you enjoy the pain of protecting your brother?" whispered her father. The smell of tobacco and alcohol lingered on his breath. She turned her head away, not daring to look into his eyes._

"_Look at me when I'm speaking to you!"_

_His raised hand came crashing down onto her cheek._

"_Stop it!!!" screamed Garaa._

_-----_

Temari woke up screaming, her forehead sticky with sweat.

"Oh God… it was just a dream…"

She placed her head between her knees. She heard footsteps racing towards her bedroom door.

"What the hell Temari? What happened?" asked Kankuro.

"Nothing. It was just a nightmare."

"You look pale," noted Garaa "do you want some water."

"Yeah, thanks."

She rubbed the scar on her arm, breathing a sigh of relief.

'_It was just a dream…'  
_

-----

Temari rubbed the back of her neck, wincing at the aching pain as she moved her head back and forth.

"Hey, I'm heading to the grocery store, do you want anything?"

"No, I'm fine." replied Kankuro.

"Are you sure? What about some ketchup chips? I know how you love that stuff."

"It's okay."

Temari froze. Her brother never refused food, none o f the less his favourite snack.

"Are you alright?"

"I just feel a little sick… I think it's from the dinner last night."

She frowned and placed a hand on her brother's forehead.

"Whoa you're burning up! I'll buy you some medicine while I'm out. DO you want me to call Sakura to take a look at you? I don't think she's busy or –"

"**I'm fine!**"he snapped. Temari recoiled from his raised voice, backing away.

"Sorry…"

"I'm fine," he said, "I think it's just a twenty-four hour thing."

"Okay, well I'll be back soon."

She walked towards the front door and turned back one before leaving.

'_Something's not right…'_

_-----_

Temari walked slower than everybody else on the road, causing angry glares along the way to the grocery store. She turned to walk in.

'_Oh shit! I can't go in there! Oh damn… what do I do now? '_

She hid behind a nearby dumpster and carefully observed the scene.

_'I can't go in there! I am not confronting Shikamaru. There is no way in hell I can do it with a straight face with that crazy psycho blonde in there with him! … wait! I know! I'll go to the other store down the street! It's further but as long as-'_

"Hey." said a voice behind her.

"Ah!" screamed Temari, clutching the dumpster, but refusing to turn around.

"What are you doing, hiding behind garbage?"

She stood up and brushed the dust off her knees.

"Nothing! I'm going to the grocery. Mind your own business!"

Without turning around, she marched down the road. She could feel the same presence following her. She rolled her eyes and thought,

'_Why can't this guy just leave me alone!'_

"Look mister, can you please stop following-"

She finally turned around to face the stranger.

"…me."

Kiba stood in front of her, one hand in his jean pocket, the other in his hair.

"Temari."

"So. You're finally speaking to me again. Thanks for the update, really." she replied sarcastically.

"We need to talk."

"About what? Look, are you done? I need to go."

She turned to leave. Kiba grabbed her arm.

"I want to talk about last night."

"**What** is there to talk about?? You saw me kissing him! I mean, there isn't really much to discuss about that since you saw it, unless you want me to explain how to kiss someone."

Kiba's eyes fell downcast, speechless.

Temari pulled her arm back.

"Let me go."

He loosened his grip. She began to turn and walk away, but he grasped her hand once again.

"Tell me it was a mistake. Tell me it was an accident, that what you did didn't mean anything."

A silence followed. She looked at him.

"Kiba… listen, I'm sorry about what I did, I really am, but if you want the truth, then I can't admit that it was a mistake."

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Sometimes you can't break away from old habits, and when opportunity presents itself, I can't help but take it. I'm so sorry Kiba. But I'm the type of person that doesn't deserve someone like you, who isn't scarred, who isn't still** in love** her with ex; I'm damaged goods."

Temari released her hand from his. He slowly looked back up.

"Does this mean we're over?" he asked.

"I think you already know the answer to that question."

Unable to hold it any longer, she ran from him, unwilling to succumb to her emotion.

"Wait! Temari!" shouted Kiba. But he did not pursue. He stood frozen, his feet unwilling to move.

She slowed to a walk when she finally looked back and saw that he wasn't pursuing her.

_'Damn it… what am I doing?'_

Temari shook her head.

_'I have to hold it together.'_

Taking a deep breath, she walked into the bakery and went up to the cash register.

"Excuse me, I'm here to pick up a cake."

The cashier smiled and asked,

"What name is it reserved under?"

'_She seems nice enough.'_

"Um… Haruno Sakura."

She skimmed through the list on the counter and said,

"Here it is! It's a two tier tiramisu cake, right?"

'_Like hell I'm supposed to know what it is.'_ She rolled her eyes internally.

"Yeah, I think so." she replied.

"It'll be twenty-five dollars. I'll just go get the cake."

She entered the double doors across from Temari.

"I just need to pick up some bread." she heard, coming from the entrance.

"But we have some at home!"

"Barely! It'll only last us a few more days."

"Whatever. God, how-"

'_Troublesome.'_ she finished off rolling her eyes. _'This is fabulous! God! Where is that stupid cashier? What is taking her so freaking long-'_

"Ah! Temari-san!" said Ino. Temari reluctantly turned around and said "Hello" through her teeth. Shikamaru nodded in acknowledgement.

"Shika, can you go pick out a dessert over there?" she asked, pointing at some obscure location near the back of the store.

"But-"

"Just **do it**, please."

"Fine." He grumbled, walking off.

"I overheard your conversation with Kiba." Whispered Ino.

"And?"

"Why the hell did you break up with him?"

"It's none of your business."

"It is if you're using this as a plot to get Shika back!" she hissed.

Temari rolled her eyes, again.

"It'snot! So will you just leave me alone! "

Ino raised herself to her full height.

"You should watch what you say to me. I can make your life miserable here."

"You're already making it miserable by talking to me, so it's kind of late to say that." she replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure you really don't want those photos being exposed."

Temari stood up taller, towering over the blonde.

"Are you threatening me?" she raised an eyebrow

"So what if I am?" she said, smirking.

"Then go ahead! Expose those photos to Kiba, or anyone else! I really couldn't care less anymore. At least people will finally realize the type of person you really are. So you can keep your non-existent blackmailing schemes, because I really don't give a shit, okay?"

"Um, excuse me ma'am? I have your cake ready." stuttered the cashier.

Temari flashed a smile and paid her. She took the cake and began to walk away.

"Oh yeah and I forgot to say: fuck you Ino."

Temari laughed and walked out of the store.

'_Take that you bitch!'_

Shikamaru ducked and shoved his fist in his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud. Ino flushed crimson with embarrassment, and bit her lip angrily.

"This isn't over yet." she muttered.

-----

"Sakura, where do you want me to put the cake?" asked Temari.

"Just place it on the glass pedestal and move it onto the island."

She carefully took the cake out of the box and placed it on the glass.

"Oh, and make sure to put the candles in as well." Added Sakura.

Temari ripped the packaging and began to orient the candles around the edge.

"So how old is he turning?"

"He's turning twenty." She replied.

"Oh wow, he's the same age as me!"

Temari laughed.

"What, you didn't know?"

"Well, I always thought he was older. He really gives off that maturity aura …unlike Naruto."

She took the plates out of the cabinet and placed them beside the cake.

"I guess so." Agreed Temari. She glanced at the oven clock and gasped.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no this is not good! He's gonna give me hell for being late!"

"What? What is it?" asked Sakura, shocked and surprised.

"… is the time on the oven accurate?"

"Yeah, why?"

Temari grabbed her fan and raced out through the kitchen door.

"I'm late!!" she yelled. Sakura watched her blurred back disappear from her sight.

"Just make sure him here by nine!" she shouted behind her.

Temari ran towards the Hokage's mansion, hoping everyone else would be late on arrival as well, but she already knew it was a futile hope.

"Sorry I'm late." She panted, hands on her knees.

"You're late." Stated Garaa. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"That's why she apologized genius."

A moment of awkward silence followed after. Temari twithced.

'_How am I going to get him to Sakura's house!?!?!'_

"Um, can I talk to you, in private?" she asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah." He answered.

They walked a good distance away from Garaa and stopped.

"What?" he said, annoyed.

"We need a plan, if you haven't already thought of that." She hissed back.

"Well, I have one." He smirked.

"You do?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah. We sneak up on him…."

"Uh huh."

"Then… we knock him out."

She smacked him on the head.

"**Idiot!** Is this what your three hundred IQ brain came up with??"

"It was a joke! A joke!!" He rubbed the back of his head.

"This is why women are so troublesome." He muttered.

"Okay seriously-"

"If you two are done chattering, can we get on with the task at hand?" said Garaa.

Both jumped up as he spoke.

"…when did you get from there to here?" she asked.

"During the time when you two were bickering." He replied.

"So you heard everything?"

She cringed as he nodded.

"She's gonna kill me!" she groaned.

"For what? And who's she?"

"Nevermind, nevermind! Let's just do our job!"

Garaa, again, nodded and replied,

"You two cover the west perimeter. I'll do the east."

He disappeared, leaving the other two.

"For a minute there, I thought he knew." She said.

"Because of that, you almost blew it." He added.

"Oh shut up. I know you thought so too."

He shrugged.

"Maybe."

She rolled her eyes and jumped up to a nearby tree.

"You roll your eyes way too much, did you know that?"

"You bug me way too much, did **you **know **that**?" she retorted.

He smirked.

"I know, it's funny."

"Right. Whatever." She replied.

"You know… I heard what you were saying at the bakery."

"And? What? You want to tell me to be nicer to your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"Why didn't you tell me she was blackmailing you?"

"Uh, maybe for obvious reasons, such as, oh I don't know, her threatening me not to tell anyone? I mean, that's kind of the point of blackmail."

"But still, couldn't you trust me?" he whispered.

"…" she looked away from him.

"Don't you care about us?"

"The 'us' died from the moment we broke up." She replied.

"Then tell me, what was last night?"

"I don't know what it was!"

"Then you can't deny the attraction between us."

"What attraction is there between us?"

He took her hand and placed it on his cheek.

"When you touch me… my heart beats faster. When I look at you.. . I –I just -"

"Please, just stop. This isn't the time to discuss this."

"You can't keep ignoring-"

"Shh! Shut up for a moment! Did you see that?"

He turned to see where she was pointing at.

"It's coming towards us." He mouthed. She silently held up three fingers. Then two. Then one.

"Gahh!!" she screamed as they abushed the suspicious person.

"What the hell??" a male voice shouted.

"We have someone!" yelled Temari. She grabbed the person by the collar. The moonlight lit up the shadows on the face.

"…. Naruto?"

Her hand went slack and let him go.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Garaa.

"Nothing! I just came to tell you guys something important!"

"What could be so important??" asked Temari, annoyed.

"There's been an emergency." Said Sakura, behind the group.

Temari turned.

"Your brother has been admitted to the hospital."

* * *

I hope this chapter was somewhat enjoyable :)  
I'm glad that I finally finished this chapter before school started again since exams are coming up about 3 weeks !! Ahh saddness overcomes me.  
Oh and..  
**HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!**  
New Years Resolution: Try not to procrastinate on writing. (It's a tough one, I know, especially for me)

Anywho, I LOVE YOU ALL .  
I just wanted to let you know :)


	18. AUTHORS UPDATE

Hey guys… so this is an update for those of you who are actually still subscribed to this story YAAAYY (*crickets*).

Oh my goodness… it's been so long!

First of all, I would like to formally apologize for my looooong hiatus from writing. School… among other things seemed to take over. Lame excuse I know, but it's the only one I have (*prepares laptop as makeshift shield from non existent mob* – yes I am old as well as super unhip, I still use the asterisks to denote actions).

Anyways,  
I AM NOW GOING BACK TO WRITING THIS STORY.  
(I thank my former past self for actually writing down all the ideas I had for the plot as well as an awesome plot… map thing I made which I found in my room).

I apologize in advance if my writing sucks and my style changes completely from the earlier chapters. But I hope that regardless of all that, you'll enjoy it. I will do my best to emulate what I had tried to have achieved before, and attempt to make it even more awesome-er

Thank you guys for waiting so patiently!

-Mcmmoster

P.S : On a side note, I think the site just got a lot more complicated than it was in the past. But that might be a sign of me just becoming senile.


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